Amady Camara leaves Sturm Graz and signs four-year contract with Randers
Amady Camara will continue his career in Denmark. SK Puntigamer Sturm Graz and Randers FC officially confirmed the permanent transfer of the 21-year-old Malian forward on 31 August 2026, bringing to an end his three-year spell associated with the Graz club. Sturm announced that Camara was leaving with immediate effect, while the Danish top-flight club simultaneously specified that he had signed a four-year contract. Randers presents him as an attacking player capable of covering several positions, and he will wear number 36 at his new club. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed in the official statements issued by the two clubs.
The transfer concludes a period in which Camara progressed from a player recruited for Sturm's development team to becoming an Austrian champion, a UEFA Champions League player and a senior Mali international. According to Sturm's official figures, he made 14 appearances for the second team and 51 for the first team, recording a combined total of nine goals and six assists in those appearances. He spent part of last season on loan at French club Nantes, where he gained experience in Ligue 1, before returning to Graz. Now, instead of another loan, a permanent move to the Danish Superliga has been agreed.
Randers ties him down for four years and gives him number 36
Randers FC stated in its announcement that Camara joins from Sturm on a four-year contract. The Danish club's sporting director Søren Pedersen described him as an explosive and technically strong attacking player who can operate in several positions across the front line. Pedersen particularly highlighted his acceleration, speed and ability to resolve one-on-one situations, assessing that such a profile should bring additional individual quality to Randers' attack. The club also emphasizes that, despite his age, Camara already has experience in Austrian and French top-flight football as well as in the UEFA Champions League.
Camara himself said in Randers' official announcement that his conversations with the club had left him with the impression that it was the right place for the next step in his career. As an important part of his first impression, he singled out Randers' match against AGF played on 30 August, one day before the transfer was confirmed. Camara said he had been impressed by the team's performance and the support from the stands in that match. In his new surroundings, he expects a new league, new teammates and an opportunity to contribute with goals and assists, although the club did not announce in advance when he might make his debut.
For Camara, number 36 will also be a familiar detail in his new environment, as he wore the same number during a significant part of his time at Sturm. Randers presented his arrival as a direct reinforcement for the first team rather than as a development project outside senior competition. The Danish club therefore gets a player who has already made the journey from the second team to appearances at the highest European level, while Camara gains long-term contractual stability after a season spent on loan in France.
He arrived in Graz in 2023 as a project for Sturm II
Sturm brought Camara to the club in July 2023, when the then 18-year-old forward from Mali was among four young players presented as reinforcements for the development setup. In the club announcement at the time, the sporting management emphasized that he was expected to play for Sturm II and develop through senior football. That pathway was important because Sturm's second team offered young players competitive minutes before a possible move into the first team. Camara made that step quickly: after the first part of the season with the development side, he joined the first team during the winter.
The official statistics cited by Sturm upon his departure show 14 appearances for Sturm II and 51 matches for the first team. The club totals nine goals and six assists across those two segments, while Nantes, when announcing his arrival in 2025, listed 51 matches, three goals and two assists for Sturm's senior team. This means that the figures in Sturm's farewell announcement include his contribution for the second team as well, rather than only his first-team statistics. For the young forward, however, the most important aspect was not simply the accumulation of goals, but his rapid introduction to matches with high competitive pressure and European competition.
Camara also went through a change of status within the squad during that period. From a player recruited for Sturm II, he became an option for a senior side competing for domestic trophies and playing in UEFA competitions. Sturm sporting director Michael Parensen also emphasized that development in his farewell message. According to him, Camara developed strongly in Graz, reached his country's senior national team and gained experience on the European stage, which caused his profile to attract the attention of other clubs.
Goal against Klagenfurt remains one of the key moments
Camara's most recognizable moment in a Sturm shirt came on 19 May 2024 in the final round of the Austrian Bundesliga. Sturm hosted Austria Klagenfurt in Graz knowing that a victory would secure the championship title, while Red Bull Salzburg were comfortably beating LASK in the parallel match and waiting for their rival to slip up. Gregory Wüthrich gave Sturm the lead in the 69th minute, and Camara, after coming off the bench late in the match, scored to make it 2:0. The Austrian Bundesliga states in its official report that it was precisely that second goal which definitively confirmed Sturm's title.
That trophy had broader significance for the Graz club. Sturm won its fourth Austrian championship title and ended Red Bull Salzburg's run of ten consecutive league titles. Since Sturm also won the Austrian Cup that season, the team finished 2023/24 with a domestic double. Speaking to the club's website several days after winning the championship, Camara recalled that in his first year in Graz he had initially collected minutes for Sturm II before, within a short period, winning two trophies and scoring an important goal in the championship run-in.
For his biography, that goal also remains important because it was his only Austrian Bundesliga goal for Sturm. Sky Sport Austria recalled that fact ahead of his move to Denmark, pointing out that the 2:0 goal against Klagenfurt was the strike that effectively sealed the title. Camara's contribution to Sturm therefore cannot be measured solely by his total number of league goals: one of them came in a match that directly decided the championship.
European matches and entry into Mali's senior national team
His development at Sturm also opened the European stage to him. When Camara arrived in August 2025, FC Nantes stated that he had played four UEFA Conference League matches and four UEFA Champions League matches for Sturm. He also scored one goal in the Conference League. UEFA documentation for the 2024/25 Champions League season confirms that he was part of Sturm's squad in a competition in which the Austrian champions faced clubs such as Brest, Club Brugge, Sporting CP, Borussia Dortmund, Girona, Lille, Atalanta and Leipzig.
For a 21-year-old player, such appearances represent an important part of the experience that Randers is now acquiring. This is not a forward entering senior professional football for the first time, but a player who, before his 22nd birthday, had already been part of teams in several different competitive systems and countries. Randers' sporting director highlighted precisely that combination of youth and experience as one of the reasons for signing him. He particularly emphasized the fact that Camara had already played at the highest level in Austria and France and had appeared in the Champions League.
During his time at Sturm, Camara also reached Mali's senior national team. Randers and Sturm stated when announcing the transfer that he has so far made two appearances for the senior national side. Nantes had already stated upon his arrival in 2025 that he became a Mali international in September of the previous year. International status further increased his visibility, although at club level he was still in a phase of seeking continuity and more playing time.
Loan at Nantes brought him ten Ligue 1 appearances
After his period in Austria, Camara joined FC Nantes on a season-long loan on 9 August 2025. The French club officially announced at the time that it had agreed a loan with an option to buy with Sturm and that the Malian forward would wear number 14. Nantes presented him as a young left-footed forward from Bamako who already had senior, European and international appearances behind him. The loan was intended to give him the opportunity to gain further experience in one of Europe's strongest leagues.
According to the player's official profile on Nantes' website, Camara made ten Ligue 1 appearances in the 2025/26 season. He started once, while in the other nine appearances he came off the bench. He made his Nantes debut on 17 August 2025 against Paris Saint-Germain in the opening round of the championship, in a match Nantes lost 0:1. The number of appearances shows that he gained exposure to French top-flight football, but did not become a regular member of the starting lineup.
After the loan ended, Camara returned to Sturm. Nantes' purchase option did not result in him remaining permanently in France, and the Austrian club once again controlled his contract. In the summer of 2026, Camara therefore faced a new decision about the direction of his career. Instead of continuing in Graz or making another temporary move, a permanent transfer to Randers was agreed, where the four-year contract suggests that the Danish club considers him part of its medium-term plans.
Muscle injury slowed his return after France
His return to Sturm during the summer was not without problems. Sturm announced on 16 July 2026 that Camara would be unavailable for several weeks because of a muscle injury, which was also reported by Austria's ORF. The injury came shortly before the start of Sturm's competitive obligations in the new season, including UEFA Champions League qualifying matches, the Austrian Cup and the beginning of the Bundesliga. Such an absence made it even more difficult for him to establish continuity after a season in which most of his league appearances for Nantes had come as a substitute.
Sky Sport Austria reported on 30 August, one day before the official transfer confirmation, that a permanent move to Randers was close to completion. The outlet cited the need for more regular playing time and steadier development as one of the reasons for the new step, while noting that injuries in previous periods had slowed Camara's progress. One day later, both clubs confirmed the deal, ending the uncertainty surrounding his status after his return from France.
In its farewell announcement, Sturm did not portray the transfer as the end of the relationship because of sporting failure. Parensen emphasized Camara's development in Graz and assessed that the move to Randers was a good solution for everyone involved. The club also said it would continue to follow his development. Such wording fits the fact that Camara arrived at Sturm as a very young player, reached the first team and the national team through the club, and is now moving to a new league at the age of 21.
Randers strengthens squad during active end to transfer window
Camara's arrival is part of an active period for Randers. In the final days of August, the club announced several squad moves, including the arrival of Swedish midfielder Axel Henriksson on loan with an option to buy from Blackburn Rovers and a four-year contract for young right-back Simon Stüker from Silkeborg. Camara is now an addition to the attacking section of the squad. The sporting management was evidently looking for a player capable of adding speed, penetration and the ability to operate in several attacking positions.
At the same time, the club also underwent a significant ownership change. Randers announced on 28 August that Japanese group Suzuyo had acquired 80 percent of the club's shares, while Randers FC Holding retained the remaining 20 percent. The club presented the change as a long-term partnership with an investor that has experience in professional football through its connection with Japan's Shimizu S-Pulse. Although Randers did not directly link Camara's transfer to the ownership change, his arrival coincides with a period of intensive squad and organizational activity.
Camara's arrival was confirmed one day after Randers' home league match against AGF. The new forward specifically mentioned that game as his first strong impression of the club. According to Randers' official schedule, the next league match is scheduled for 6 September away to Brøndby. Whether Camara will already be available for selection will depend on registration, his physical condition and the coaching staff's decision, and the club had not officially confirmed this at the time the transfer was announced.
Transfer fee not officially disclosed
Neither Sturm nor Randers disclosed the transfer fee, bonuses, any percentage of a future sale or other financial elements of the agreement in their official announcements. Therefore, the exact financial framework of the deal cannot currently be considered officially confirmed. Sky Sport Austria reported before the transfer was completed that the fee was expected to be in the mid-to-high six-figure range, but the clubs did not publicly verify that claim after formally confirming the deal. For credible coverage of the transfer, it is therefore necessary to distinguish between officially confirmed facts and media reports about its value.
What has been confirmed is the permanent nature of the deal and the four-year contract with Randers. Sturm therefore closes, after three years, the development cycle of a player who arrived in Graz as a teenager, while the Danish club assumes the further sporting and market risk associated with his development. At 21, Camara is still in an age group in which further improvement is expected, but he already has experiences that many players encounter considerably later: winning a domestic league and cup, appearances in UEFA competitions, Ligue 1 and the senior national team.
For Sturm, his departure will remain associated with one of the most successful phases in the club's recent history, particularly because of the goal with which the championship title was confirmed in May 2024. For Camara, the transfer to Randers is an attempt to turn that experience into more stable playing time and more tangible output in a new league. Randers, meanwhile, gains a forward whose potential the club openly emphasizes, although his actual status within the team will only become clear through the matches following the completion of the transfer.
Sources:
- SK Puntigamer Sturm Graz - official confirmation of the permanent transfer, appearance statistics and statement by sporting director Michael Parensen (link)
- Randers FC - official confirmation of the four-year contract, shirt number and statements by Søren Pedersen and Amady Camara (link)
- SK Puntigamer Sturm Graz - July 2023 announcement about Camara's arrival and the initial development plan through Sturm II (link)
- Austrian Bundesliga - official report on Sturm's 2023/24 title and Camara's goal against Austria Klagenfurt (link)
- FC Nantes - official announcement of the loan with an option to buy from August 2025 and details of Camara's previous European experience (link)
- FC Nantes - official player profile with statistics of ten Ligue 1 appearances during the 2025/26 season (link)
- ORF Sport - information about the muscle injury and several-week absence announced in July 2026 (link)
- Sky Sport Austria - report ahead of the transfer with information about the expected transfer fee and the context of Camara's departure (link)
- Randers FC - official schedule for the start of the 2026/27 season and the date of the match against Brøndby (link)
- Randers FC - official announcement about the change in ownership structure and the entry of the Suzuyo group (link)