MOHAMED “Medo” Kamara is out to prove he is no soft touch as he prepares to make his Wanderers debut today.
Dougie Freedman has hinted that the Sierra Leone international, a January deadline-day signing from FK Partizan, could be thrown into the heat of a local derby against Burnley at the Reebok.
“Medo” will be the name on the back of the 25-year-old’s shirt if he gets into the reckoning against the Clarets, a playful nickname bestowed on him in Serbia that translates to “Teddy Bear” in English.
Yet the midfielder is out to prove right away to his new fans that he means business.
“I want to win. Every club I have been to, I have been a winner,” he said.
“The Bolton fans should be expecting this from me. I am angry, I want to win. I want to prove myself on the pitch and make the fans happy.”
Medo has played Champions League football in Belgrade and earlier in his career for Finnish club HJK Helsinki, and prior to his arrival at the Reebok had been linked with moves to the Premier League with Tottenham and Chelsea.
He makes no secret of wanting to play at the top level again, but Medo insists he has no qualms about mucking in with Wanderers in the Championship first.
“I spoke to the gaffer about his plan and I think I have the same ambition. For that I think this is a good move for me,” he said.
“It was fantastic to play in the Champions League. Another time I will do it again.
“Now I am with Bolton and only thinking about the level we are at. I want to get that place in the Premier League before the end of the season.
“It doesn’t matter to me, I just want to play. I come here to Bolton determined to play as well as I can for the team and do my best.”
Medo sought advice from former team-mate Stefan Savic, who moved from Manchester City to Fiorentina over the summer, about the move to England.
But while little is known of him on these shores, the reliability of some information in the public domain should be treated with caution.
Medo did seek political asylum alongside several other members of the Sierra Leone Under-17s side that competed at the World Cup in Finland in 2003. But an errant story that his parents were killed during the civil war has been strongly denied by the midfielder.
“Everybody is making these stories up,” he said. “My sister is with me in Belgrade and I am going to try and bring her over with me. And my mother and father are back home. “I don’t usually chat too much about my family stuff. I keep it private.
“I don’t know where people get their news from; they just write, write, write.
“When I read the stuff I don’t say anything, even though it is rubbish.”
Medo was also quick to put the record straight about football in Serbia, where he has played for the last three years.
Even though racism would appear to be a big problem in the country, given the recent experiences of England’s Under-21s, the player insists the reality was much different for him playing domestic football for FK Partizan.
“I did not experience anything like that,” he said. “The people and the fans were very good to me.
“I could go out in the street how I wanted to. I don’t go out all that much but whenever I did, I was okay.”
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