Steven Gerrard told what to expect from Boubacar Kamara as Aston Villa confirm signing

Steven Gerrard wanted to bring more leaders to Aston Villa in this transfer window - and he has found one in French midfielder Boubacar Kamara.

Kamara officially joins Villa today after the expiry of his contract with Marseille, where he began his football journey at the age of five. During his rise through Marseille’s academy Kamara often wore the captain’s armband, and he was trusted to lead Les Olympiens’ first team on numerous occasions after making his debut in a French League Cup tie with Sochaux in 2016, shortly after his 17th birthday.

He made his debut in Ligue 1 and the Europa League before reaching 18. Now 22, Kamara has 151 senior club starts to his name - and he recently earned his first three caps for France.

“I was lucky to have him in pre-training at the age of 13 until his professional contract,” Jean-Luc Cassini, who oversaw Kamara’s development at Marseille, tells “I was director of pre-training, then director of training at Marseille.

“He always played in his age category until he was 16-years-old, very often wearing the captain's armband in the youth teams. At the age of 17, he joined the professional reserves and became an indisputable starter. At 18, he was in the professional group with Rudi Garcia who played him six times in the season and started him in the Europa League against Leipzig.”

Kamara is a leader in Gerrard’s mould. Former Liverpool and England captain Gerrard was never known for his loudness, instead he led by example with committed and wholehearted displays in the engine room.

On the field Kamara is dominant, destructive and selfless in midfield. Away from it, he lives a quiet life with fiancée Coralie Porrovecchio and sons Kingsley and Leeroy.

“At the academy Bouba had very good