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Kei Kamara to return to MLS with Columbus Crew next season

Kei Kamara will return to the Columbus Crew next season, the MLS club announced on Tuesday.

Kamara, 30, was a free agent after leaving Middlesbrough by mutual consent in August, and the Crew used the top spot in the MLS allocation rankings to bring the winger back to Columbus.

The Crew drafted the Sierra Leone international in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft, and he played two seasons in Columbus before being traded to San Jose.

"How many people get to say they get to go back to work or play where they started? I started here," Kamara told the Crew's official website. "Columbus gave me my first opportunity to become a professional, and now in the prime of my career I'm back in Columbus. I'm excited."

In 2009, Kamara joined Sporting Kansas City, where he enjoyed the most success of his career and caught the eye of teams in England. He went on loan to Norwich in January 2013, then joined Middlesbrough that summer.

Crew coach Gregg Berhalter told the Columbus Dispatch that he now sees Kamara in a more central attacking role.

"I think this is an important piece," Crew coach Gregg Berhalter told the Columbus Dispatch. "If you look at Kei and what he's done in this league so far on the field and off the field, it's a great piece for the club. He's a guy who is going to get involved in the community and he's exciting and on the field he brings a lot of energy and he brings expertise. Off the field he's charismatic, so overall it's a very positive signing."

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