Medo Kamara: ready-made replacement

Jay Spearing has been absolutely instrumental for Bolton Wanderers this season, especially in the second half of the current campaign. He is a midfield bulldog that is not afraid to go into a hard challenge, willing to run for the whole match, and is able to play (pretty) accurate balls over long distances. That's all well and good until you come to the realization that Spearing's term at the Reebok is nearly at an end.

The Liverpool midfielder signed for Bolton Wanderers on 31 August, the summer transfer window deadline day, on a year-long loan deal. With just five matches left in the season, that year is almost over. Liverpool want a fee in the neighborhood of £3 million and even if the Trotters manage promotion via the playoffs, that fee may just be too much.

Enter Medo Kamara. The 25-year-old midfield enforcer signed for Bolton on deadline day in January from Partizan on a three-and-a-half-year deal for a fee rumored to be in the neighborhood of £700,000. To date, he has appeared seven times for the Trotters, starting four of those games and enjoying six wins. Medo also has a goal to his name and it was his long-range effort that was deflected, allowing Marcos Alonso to score, against Hull City.

Jay Spearing has gone the full 90 minutes in each of those seven games that Medo Kamara has participated in. The two have spent a decent amount of time on the pitch together already (some 344 minutes), playing alongside each other. The two line up roughly level on the pitch although at the weekend against Wolves, Medo was playing behind Jay Spearing for fair portions of the match. The two are fairly similar players.

Like Spearing, Medo loves a good tackle and is not afraid to get stuck in, as it were. However, Kamara is arguably better on the ball, technically speaking, and has a reputation of solid passing. He is an effective player, not a tricky one. He is far from the largest player on the field but with the way he puts himself about, could be the strongest (relatively speaking, anyway). He used all of the above to his advantage against Wolverhampton and, in no uncertain terms, ran the show.

Medo has shown well for Bolton Wanderers this season and while it is still early days, he could be an excellent acquisition in the long term. If the Trotters can't (or won't) sign Jay Spearing on a permanent basis, the fans have reason not to worry.

Medo Kamara is a ready-made replacement.