Ola Kamara’s first Major League Soccer contract came with a payout of $457,500 in guaranteed compensation for the 2016 season, according to MLS Players Union data, and a nice change of scenery.

His new deal did not, however, come with a guarantee of immediate playing time.

Kamara, 27, of Norway, had spent most of his 2015 season on loan to Molde FK of the Norwegian Tippeligaen before signing with the Crew in February 2016.

He began 2016 as the Crew’s No. 2 forward — and its No. 2 Kamara — before an on-field spat between Kei Kamara and Federico Higuain opened a door. The Crew traded Kei Kamara, a 22-goal scorer in 2015, to the New England Revolution on May 12 last year. Ola Kamara made his first MLS start two days later.

“I think when I came here I was up for the battle. Of course, maybe I didn’t know that much that Kei was (the) big player that he was in this team,” Kamara said. “When I came here, of course I knew that I had to fight hard to get that spot, but I’ve done that before and then I had that mentality. When I got the chance, I was ready.”

Entering a game against the Revolution tonight, Kamara has been one of the league’s most prolific scorers over the last 12 months, netting 21 goals in just 29 MLS starts. His rate of 0.77 goals per 90 minutes was one of the league’s highest last season.

Pinpointing when he would break into the starting 11 last spring was difficult. Understanding his fit in Crew coach Gregg Berhalter’s system, which presents center forwards with plenty of scoring chances, was not.

“What I told him was forwards in our system score a lot of goals,” Berhalter said. “(I said), ‘You’re going to hopefully put yourself in position to get on the field and perform and score goals, so you’ve got to be patient. We rotate players in, we like to give other people chances and your chance will come.’

“It did come, and credit to him for taking advantage of it.”

The striker said his thoughts on Major League Soccer would have been in line with much of Europe’s thoughts on the league five years ago. At that time, like many others he felt MLS was a retirement league for European pros to cash in as their bodies aged and talents faded.

Today, he considers the talent level in MLS ahead of Norway’s top flight and several other European leagues. A summer spent traveling across the country with the Crew validated his decision to leave Europe.

“It was always a dream to play in America, but it was more the typical European thought,” Kamara said. “But when I saw the level, the capacity of the stadiums, the people coming to the games, the atmosphere, the level of players in the league, you want to play in it. It’s just been amazing to be here.”

Nine games into his second MLS season, Kamara is tied for fifth in the league with five goals. Close to a year after he solidified his role in the Crew starting lineup, he continues to score at a rate he knew was possible when he first arrived in Columbus.

“I saw this team was playing a style (in which) I could score a lot of goals. I was absolutely, very positive of that,” Kamara said. “Hopefully it takes off this May, also.”

aerickson@dispatch.com

@AEricksonCD