The Turkish Super Lig club Yeni Malatyaspor are pressing ahead with plans to sign Aboubakar Kamara from Fulham, despite the forward’s arrest on suspicion of actual bodily harm following allegations of a fight at the club’s Motspur Park training centre.
Kamara is understood to have clashed with a security guard on Monday after attempting to seek out the Fulham chief executive, Alistair Mackintosh, to discuss his future.
The player had found himself marginalised after two recent incidents and banished to train with the club’s under-23s.
Whereas the first-team squad were given time off this week by Claudio Ranieri before a free weekend, the 23-year-old apparently failed to attend a session with the academy group and, as a result, was due to incur a club fine.
Notification of that punishment had prompted him to seek out Mackintosh.
Police were called to Motspur Park shortly after 5pm on Monday following reports of a violent incident, with the player arrested on suspicion of ABH and causing criminal damage.
No charges have been brought against Kamara, who has been banned indefinitely by Fulham from the training ground and “all club activities”.
Yeni Malatyaspor, third in the Turkish top flight, want the Frenchman – a £5.4m signing from Amiens in July 2017 – on loan until the end of the season.
Their president, Adil Gevrek, is in London negotiating with Fulham and has apparently not been put off, with an agreement having been struck in principle.
Talks are ongoing to add a second Fulham player, the DR Congo international Neeskens Kebano, as part of the deal as the Turkish club seek to add to their offensive options.
The pair have made only five Premier League starts, all by Kamara, this term. It remains to be seen whether either deal is now made permanent.
Kamara made 30 appearances and scored seven goals in the Championship for Fulham last season.
He featured initially after Ranieri’s appointment but his decision to overrule Aleksandar Mitrovic in order to take a penalty against Huddersfield last month – he went on to miss – was compounded by a run-in with the Serbia striker during a squad yoga session.
The striker, contracted to 2021, was omitted from the squad for the two most recent league games, against Burnley and Tottenham.
