Aston Villa struck gold with bargain signing, he’s now worth £31m

Aston Villa pulled off some impressive moves in the market this summer, with Unai Emery bringing a refreshed level of expectation to the club following his arrival in October 2022.

The Villans were driven from 16th place to 7th during the Spaniard’s first season at the club, securing them European football for the 2023/24 campaign and subsequently bolstering their pull in the transfer window.

Five new faces were welcomed to the Midlands in the summer, including the record-breaking signing of Moussa Diaby, who joined from Bayer Leverkusen in a £51.9m deal.

While the lucrative deals are typically the transfers that generate excitement, Villa pulled off an exceptional business move last summer, by signing a player in Boubacar Kamara whose value heavily exceeds the price paid for his signature.

How much did Aston Villa sign Boubacar Kamara for?

Prior to the official opening of the 2022 summer window, Villa announced that they had reached an agreement to sign Marseille midfielder Kamara on a free transfer. Dubbed “high-quality” by talent scout Jacek Kulig, this was quite the coup.

Signed as a 22-year-old, the highly-rated Frenchman was nabbed by the Premier League side at the expiration of his contract with his boyhood club, in a move that was celebrated due to the quality of the player.

Earning £150k-per-week at Villa, the former Ligue 1 ace is the side’s biggest earner, however has shown glimpses of the heights he could hit within his five-year contract at the club.

What is Boubacar Kamara’s market value now?

At the point of making the move to England, the 6 foot midfielder had an expected transfer value (xTV) of €18.9m (£16m), a figure that has since risen to €36.5m (£31m) which is a reflection of Kamara’s current market value, via Football Transfers.

During his time at Villa, the 23-year-old has seen his xTV fluctuate, with it hitting a staggering high of €59m (£50m) towards the end of 2022, telling of just how high his price could spike in the future.

One of the reasons for his dip in value was his time away from the action, as he sustained an ankle injury in March that left him sidelined for a month, with journalist Gregg Evans describing him as “irreplaceable” at the time in his column for The Athletic.

Why is Kamara worth so much?

Hailed as a “phenomenon” by former Marseille ace Rolando, Kamara is a highly valued player in the Midlands, with his place in Emery’s team critical due to his perfectly balanced pivot with Douglas Luiz in the engine room.

It didn’t take long for the Marseille academy graduate to adapt to the Premier League, which is usually a subtle worry when players arrive from abroad with no experience of the physicality of the English game.

As per FBref, the Frenchman orchestrated the midfield by making an average of 2.94 tackles per 90, as well as averaging 1.92 blocks per 90, a decimal that placed him within the top 10% of midfielders in the league.

While keeping a firm lock on threat in the middle of the park, the 23-year-old maintained an average pass completion rate of 84.8% per 90, showcasing his ability to dictate play in an area that’s typically congested.

Villa evidently struck gold by securing the signature of the 2022 free-agent, who has shown performances typical of a player whose market value is bound to soar to even further levels in the future.