Diomansy Kamara Demands Respect for African Players in Football

Diomansy Kamara has demanded football starts listening to African players – not just trading them – after a chaotic deadline day saw Ismaila Sarr’s move to Liverpool collapse and Lamine Camara’s switch to Chelsea pulled at the last moment.

The agent, a former Senegal international himself, watched two major transfers for his clients fall apart within hours. For him, this was about more than missed deals. It was about respect.

Liverpool’s winger hunt hits a wall

Liverpool went into the summer with a clear plan: reload the wide areas for Andoni Iraola.

Victor Munoz arrived early in the window. Then came the headline move – Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain in a huge £123million deal, a statement signing to bolster the left side.

But the right flank? That remains a problem.

Liverpool walked away from Ibrahim Mbaye, deciding the former PSG winger was too expensive, and Aston Villa stepped in to sign him for €55m (£47m). The search then swung to the Premier League: Palace’s Ismaila Sarr and Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh became the primary targets.

A £40m offer for Sarr was rejected by Crystal Palace. Fabrizio Romano reported that Liverpool later went as high as £50m for the Senegal international, though that figure has been disputed elsewhere. Either way, the answer from Selhurst Park on deadline day was blunt: Sarr was not leaving, even for £50m or more.

At the same time, Liverpool pushed hard for Minteh. Bids of £50m and £60m were both turned down by Brighton, who slapped an £80m valuation on the winger. Liverpool considered going again but backed away.

Late links to Stuttgart’s Jamie Leweling surfaced as a possible emergency solution. Nothing materialised. The window closed, and Iraola was left without a specialist right winger.

Kamara: “Our African players deserve respect”

For Kamara, the Sarr saga was only half the story. Another client, Lamine Camara, saw his own big move collapse when Monaco cancelled his £47m transfer to Chelsea at the last minute.

The double blow prompted Kamara to take a public stand. In a powerful social media post, he called out how African players are treated in the market.

“The cases of Ismaïla Sarr and Lamine Camara must all interrogate us,” he wrote.

He argued that African footballers are too often treated like assets rather than people: bought, priced, negotiated over, while their own wishes drift into the background.

“Our African players deserve respect. The respect of their work. The respect of their career. Respecting their ambitions. The respect of their voices,” he insisted.

Kamara stressed that a transfer cannot simply be an equation between two clubs and a number on a balance sheet. Behind every contract, he said, there is “a man, a career, dreams and life choices”.

He accepted that clubs having the final say is “a reality of professional football”. But he posed the crucial question: what about the player’s career and will? For him, the player must be heard and respected when decisions about his future are made.

His closing reminder was sharp: behind every success, it is the players who write history first.

Carragher left “scratching his head”

While Kamara raged at the human cost, Liverpool fans were left to assess the footballing one. Jamie Carragher did not hide his concern.

Asked about Liverpool’s transfer business, the former defender admitted: “I’m disappointed. I’m not quite sure what we’re going to do on that right wing right now.”

He looked at the squad and saw imbalance.

“It doesn’t look a balanced squad. Liverpool are short in full-back areas and probably a midfield player as well.

“I sit there scratching my head and thinking, ‘We’ve got four left wingers; we haven’t got one right winger.’ Something like that just doesn’t feel right to me.”

Carragher then zoomed out to the bigger picture. Liverpool were champions just over a year ago. Since then, the club has spent heavily. Yet, in his view, belief in another title push has faded.

“We spent an awful lot of money since then and I don’t think anybody inside Liverpool or Liverpool supporters really believe we can win the league this season, or the manager’s got the tools to go and win the league this season, and that just doesn’t feel right.”

Liverpool now head into the season with an overloaded left side, no natural right winger, and serious questions about squad balance. For Kamara, the question is different but just as sharp: when the next African star is caught in the middle of a transfer storm, who will truly listen to what he wants?