However, “I am not 100 percent mentally there because of this negotiation,” he told the Insider. “I am not really happy with what it looks like right now.”

Kamara’s discontent first surfaced on the Insider last Monday.

Kamara shared the goal-scoring title with Toronto FC’s Sebastian Giovinco and was second to the Italian forward in MVP voting. He was third on the team payroll with a base salary of $400,000 and overall earnings of $536,666. Argentine playmaker Federico Higuain was first at $1.175 million in both pay categories, followed by Argentine defender Gaston Sauro ($583,200 / $599,512).

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Giovinco earned $7.1 million.

Kamara’s contract, which includes incremental raises, runs through the 2017 season.

“I am here [at camp] because I am under contract, but at the same time, I am hoping our conversation gets better,” Kamara said. “It hasn’t been good, not in the direction I would like it to go. I am hoping, from the last conversation a few days ago, he knows my position and where I stand. I’m just waiting for him to come back and tell me something better.”

He said he has had two conversations with Gregg Berhalter, the club’s head coach and sporting director, but none with upper management.

Berhalter said he did not want to comment on player contracts or any potential negotiations.

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Speaking in general, Berhalter said: “Off-field issues are part of the game. It’s my job as the coach to talk to the players. These type of situations are common in professional sports. … Kei is here. We look forward to getting him fully integrated, getting him back to full strength. That is the most important thing, that he can replicate the type of season he had last year.”

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Kamara, 31, said he has suggested a new salary figure. (He hasn’t disclosed it publicly.)

“I don’t think it’s ridiculous or out of hand. Columbus doesn’t have a lot of players making high figures, and for us to be a team to compete and continue going in the direction we want to go, I should be one of those players rewarded for what I am doing.”

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Kamara’s value extends beyond the field: He is a popular figure in Columbus (and Kansas City before that) and was voted MLS humanitarian of the year in 2015 for efforts in his war-torn home, Sierra Leone.

Kamara played for Columbus, San Jose and Houston before joining Kansas City in late 2009. Over four years, he emerged as one of MLS’s top attackers with swift runs on the flank and a clinical scoring touch. In 2013, Kamara moved to Middlesbrough in England’s second tier, then returned to MLS last season. He posted 22 goals and eight assists in 32 regular season appearances and had a league-high four goals in the playoffs, including one in the championship defeat to the Portland Timbers last month.

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“I knew coming back into the league I am going to show I am at the prime of my career,” he said. “And at the prime of my career, I need to be paid as one of the prime players of this league. I am used as one of the prime players in this league; my face is used all over. So why not pay me as one of the prime players? Last year, I proved myself as one of the elite players for my team, and that is why I feel like I should be up there.”

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Kamara said he doesn’t foresee holding out or requesting a trade.