Norwich City: Inside Abu Kamara's Portsmouth loan move

How would you sum up Kamara's time at Fratton Park? It certainly feels like it went well.

He's hopeless, the best thing you could be would be to let him go back to Portsmouth permanently! No, joking aside, when he came you never quite knew what you were going to get out of him, and I don't think even he expected the season to go quite as well as it did.

It was just everything about him. He's a really good character, a really good guy, really well respected in the dressing room. He's a very humble kid, very keen to work hard and to learn.

He has got so much talent and so much ability, he's tall so can win balls in the area, and he runs like a 400m runner. He sort of glides across the pitch, he has this very effortless running style but he was still too quick for everyone in League One. His decision making in the final third was pretty good.

Overall, you'd have to search right across the EFL to find someone who had a better first loan. He was fantastic.

In the autumn there were some question marks around him from some of the Portsmouth fans, and head coach John Mousinho came out and defended him strongly. Was that a turning point?

Yes. Not every game over the whole season was brilliant, but in the second half of the campaign it's hard to think of too many games that weren't. Albeit he probably tired a little bit towards the end.

I remember in the second game of the season Pompey won 4-0 at Leyton Orient, he was playing on the left wing and had a really poor game. In those first few months there were ups and downs; he wasn't quite as comfortable on the left.

I think it was a bit of a learning curve. Playing under-21 football, friendlies, it's not like playing proper EFL games, it's very different in terms of intensity and style. He did take a little bit of time to adjust.

But towards the end of the season a lot of the way Pompey were playing was to try and isolate him one-on-one with his full-back. I remember the Barnsley game, at one point the left-back turned to the bench having been beaten by Kamara and was kind of like: 'What do you expect me to do?'

The 20-year-ol came through a tough start to star at Fratton Park (Image: PA)

And how good had Mousinho been for him at this stage of his career?

He's actually been quite hands-off. He's got a good set of coaches around him who often go and do one-on-one work with players.

Mousinho would have been there for Abu when he needed him, but he's the kind of manager who lets the dressing room manage itself. But he is someone who tries to give confidence to players like Kamara.

He was smart enough to know that the bad performances early on are what you expect at that stage and he didn't read too much into them. He's hardly put a foot wrong in 18 months of management so far, and he looks like someone who is going to have a very bright career.

Head coach John Mousinho (centre) was patient with Kamara (Image: PA)

How excited should Norwich fans be about Kamara after the season he's had?

Most of all they should be excited because he's the kind of player you pay your money to watch; he's quick, tricky, takes players on, gets around them, gets to the byline, cuts in. So he's exciting to watch.

On one level it's exciting to have a young talent come through, but on another level it's exciting because of what he's like to watch. You don't get too many players of his age who have had a season like he has. 

It is a different environment at Norwich, there will probably be more pressure and it's a level up. he's not automatically going to be successful. But a talent like him, who is so exciting to watch, is one Norwich fans should be excited about, and should look forward to seeing on the pitch sooner rather than later.