Glen Kamara opens up on "bittersweet" Leeds United decision | OneFootball

The midfielder left Elland Road in the summer after just one season with the club.

Glen Kamara has admitted it was a "bittersweet" feeling to leave Leeds United after missing out on promotion last season, but he has backed his former team to once again challenge for the top spots this season.

The Finnish midfielder was one of multiple million-pound sales that Leeds made this summer. The failure to win promotion, both automatically and via the play-offs, left the club in a vulnerable position. They had plenty of top level talent that were going to have to spend another year playing in the second division, and teams took advantage of that.

Kamara, Archie Gray, Georginio Rutter and Crysencio Summerville brought more than £100 million to Elland Road over the summer.

All of them were part of the club's plans, but the deal that saw the former Rangers man leave was made an easier pill to swallow by the quick profit they made on him. Leeds bought the 29-year-old for between £4-5 million two summers ago and then sold him to Stade Rennais for £8 million in the last transfer window, according to the Yorkshire Evening Post.

Glen Kamara's tough decision to leave Leeds

Kamara has admitted, in an interview with Football League World's sister website, GIVEMESPORT, that moving on from United was not an easy thing to do after the disappointing end to the 2023/24 campaign, in which they lost in the play-off final to Southampton, at Wembley.

He said: "It was bittersweet leaving Leeds. We were very close to going up. We probably should have gone up automatically. It was a tough one to take, losing in the play-off final. I was only there for a year, so moving so soon was a bit of a weird one, but things just happen quickly in football and you have to be ready.

"I had watched a lot of the Championship games before joining Leeds, and had friends playing in the league. And a lot of people said when I signed you basically need to average two points-per-game to go up. And we almost got that and fell short.

"It was difficult to accept. Some players have moved on, including me, but I think Leeds will have a good chance of going back up to the Premier League. They have great players. I think they’ll be good [for promotion] this season."

One of the main things that lured Kamara away from Yorkshire and over the channel to his new French club was the prospect of playing European football. Rennais aren't involved in any of the UEFA club competitions in this campaign, but they have featured in the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League since the turn of the decade.

"I was attracted by the club’s ambition to be in Europe," admitted the midfielder. "I played a lot of European football at Rangers and getting back to that level would be amazing. And I think that’s where this club wants to be.

"If we don’t make Europe this season we’ll be disappointed. It wouldn’t be good for us, especially with the squad we have. We have spent a lot of money this season. The goal is definitely to get into Europe. All the boys know it."

Leeds could do with having Glen Kamara right now

Leeds' middle of the park arrangement was Kamara. He helped steer them towards their 90-point season, and they could sure do with him at the moment.

Knee Injuries to two of his midfield partners from last season - Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev - that are currently set to rule them out until after the new year, have hampered Leeds' central options.

Ao Tanaka and Joe Rothwell have done a good job of carrying the load in their absence, but, if one of them were to go down, Joshua Guilavogui would have to step in, which would leave United even shorter than they already are.