Monaco midfielder Mohamed Camara may be tasked with filling the rather large boots of now-Real Madrid man Aurélien Tchouameni, but the Mali international hit the ground running with a star turn against PSG - and hasn't looked back. Interview.
After signing from Salzburg in the summer, Mohamed Camara was something of an unknown quantity in Ligue 1 Uber Eats. However, with a stunning performance on debut - against PSG - he made a resounding start to life in France's top flight.
"Everybody knows Paris Saint-Germain and their great players like Mbappé, Messi, Neymar, and it was my first start, so it was a big match for me. I didn't notice if it was Mbappé or someone else; it could have been anyone," Camara told the Ligue 1 Show on beIN SPORTS. "I watched a lot of videos of Messi and Verratti before the game. Messi likes to give and go, and when he passed to Verratti, I quickly anticipated and tackled him. As soon as I won it, I gave the ball to Golovin, he gave it to Volland, and Volland scored! That helped me earn the trust of the coach and my teammates, and it helped me to settle at the club."
Big comparisons
For Mohamed Camara, it was an ideal introduction to the French game. The Malian had big boots to fill when he joined from Salzburg for €15m in August; Aurélien Tchouameni had just joined Real Madrid in a €100m move, but Camara quickly showed he was a fine replacement.
"I shouldn't compare myself to Tchouameni; he's a special player. I've come here just to be myself," said the humble - yet very talented - 23-year-old. "The coach asks me to be a leader on the pitch and to always be positive. We have a lot of young players. I'm a young player too, but I've already experienced a lot of things in my career that they haven't."
Camara grew up in Bamako, admiring the performances of then-Mali captain Mahamadou Diarra, who won four Ligue 1 Uber Eats titles with Lyon. Now, after four seasons cutting his teeth in the Austrian league, the former Salzburg midfielder is emulating his hero.
'A good league for me!'
"I feel very good here, thanks to God," he smiled. "I feel part of the Monaco family. I'm proud to be here at Monaco, playing in Ligue 1. It's a very physical, technical league - it's a good league for me! I'm a physical, technical player, so it suits me. No problem at all!"
Camara's ability to read the game, intercept passes, snap into tackles and raid forward are reminiscent of another Ligue 1 Uber Eats old boy - World Cup winner N'Golo Kanté.
'People already call me N'Golo Kanté!" Camara laughed. "I love the way N'Golo Kanté plays football and the way he is off the pitch - he's very calm but he never stops running and he does a lot for the other players. I played like that, running box to box, all the time, and people started calling me N'Golo Kanté. At first I said 'no, I'm Mo Camara', but then I started watching a lot of his games. And now I want to keep on working to become the new N'Golo Kanté!"
European confidence
With Camara alongside Youssouf Fofana at the heart of the team, free-scoring Monaco are going from strength to strength, and their 23-year-old lynchpin is confident they can clinch Champions League qualification.
"The season isn't over yet; everything is possible," he declared. "We just want to keep up our great run of scoring in every match. Score at least a goal in every game. We want to work on that and try to finish on the podium at the end of the season."
Camara and Monaco's next test comes when Paris Saint-Germain come calling at the Stade Louis II on Saturday evening - a match that could prove crucial in the both the title and European races this season!