Chris Kamara turned down huge pay rise to become Fulham director of football
Football legend Chris Kamara has revealed former Fulham owner Mohamed Al-Fayed offered to double his salary to make him his right-hand man.
Kamara had a long playing career, with spells at the likes of Portsmouth, Brentford and Leeds United before becoming a pundit. The Englishman became a much-loved member of the Soccer Saturday panel on Sky Sports, before leaving that role at the end of last season.
But Kamara has now disclosed that he could have followed a very different path early on into his punditry career. The former striker received an offer from Al-Fayed to join him as Fulham's director of football, his personal press secretary and the press secretary for luxury department store Harrods, which Al-Fayed owned at the time.
“I would go to Fulham and have a real laugh with Mohamed Al-Fayed. We got on like an absolute house on fire and then in 2003 I was interviewing him on the pitch about his new manager at the time," Kamara told the Kammy’s Football Shorts podcast.
“And he went, ‘I want you to come and work for me.’ Kammy said that when he went to the meeting with Al-Fayed he got “straight down to business” and asked him to ditch his job at Sky Sports and work for him instead.
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“He says, ‘This is the deal. First and foremost, you’ll be working alongside Chris Coleman as Director of Football. Then I want you to be Press Secretary for the Harrods store and thirdly I want you to be my Press Secretary and take over from a fella called Michael Cole, who’s retiring.’"
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Kamara also revealed that Al-Fayed offered to double his salary at Sky to ensure he took up the offer. But the former footballer opted against leaving his punditry role and turned the businessman down.
“I thought, ‘Flipping hell!’ And he goes, ‘How much are you earning at Sky?’ So I was honest enough to say. I did think, ‘Shall I top it up by a little bit more?’" Kamara added.
“And he went straight away, ‘I’ll double it. Your wife will be able to buy whatever she wants from the store, she’ll get a gold card which is free to buy anything to the tune of £25,000 per year that you’re working for me.
“’It goes without saying, the expenses will be terrific - what do you think?’ I called him after and I said 'I’ve thought about it, I’m flattered that you’ve chosen me - but the answer is no.'”
Kamara went on to enjoy 19 more years working for Sky Sports before departing his role ahead of the current season. He now hosts his own podcast, as well as holding a variety of other presenting jobs.
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