3 teams that should trade for Columbus striker Kamara

Columbus Crew striker Kei Kamara could be on his way out after his public tirade of teammate Federico Higuain, with the team reportedly shopping him around ahead of Wednesday's trade deadline.

As a Designated Player, finding a new team for Kamara won't be easy, but here are three options for the league's embattled second-top scorer:

Montreal Impact

Strangely enough, the team that might benefit the most from Kamara's spat with Higuain is the same team who conceded the penalty in the first place. The Montreal Impact played out to a 4-4 draw at MAPFRE Stadium against the Crew when the incident took place.

Kamara, 31, would offer the Impact a short and long-term replacement solution to the Didier Drogba problem as the 38-year-old looks set to retire at season's end. The Impact currently have all three DP spots filled but could pay down Lucas Ontivero's contract using Targeted Allocation Money to open up a slot.

In terms of shape, Montreal has everything needed to ensure Kamara succeeds, with a pair of wingers in Ignacio Piatti and Dominic Oduro (the latter, a good friend of Kamara's) in support out wide, something Kamara himself says he needs in order to score.

It would take some salary cap and roster tinkering to make it work but Kamara would be the perfect player for the Impact brass, who surely must already be on the lookout to find a replacement for Drogba.

Philadelphia Union

If the surging Philadelphia Union want to make a run this season, they might do well to acquire another top forward to help C.J. Sapong out when the going gets tough.

The two are quite familiar with each other, since Kamara pushed Sapong out of the starting lineup at Sporting Kansas City, but Philadelphia could do what the New England Revolution did two seasons ago and rotate strikers. It worked for Charlie Davies and Juan Agudelo in New England and it could work for Jim Curtin's side, too.

Ultimately, Kamara would be the star man Philadelphia needs up top and a central figurehead to build around. It certainly wouldn't be difficult for the Union to acquire him, since they have only one DP slot in use with Maurice Edu.

New York City FC

This scenario requires multiple moving pieces but could end up being beneficial to all parties involved. NYCFC could address its biggest position of need at center-forward with the acquisition of Kamara by trading one of its own DPs, Frank Lampard, to Columbus.

The Crew would need to take the risk that Lampard will retire in the summer and NYCFC will likely need to eat up a chunk of Lampard's contract anyway, but an expiring contract dump could simply give the Crew an easy out on Kamara with little fuss. It would allow Columbus to rid itself of a DP spot entirely in the summer, if the details of each contract allow such a thing.

Theoretically, NYCFC would need to use allocation money to buy down Lampard's contract in order to make the trade palatable for Columbus. And, make no mistake about it, NYCFC would be making sacrifices in order to acquire Kamara. It's a bold play and one that gives Patrick Vieira the MLS-proven center forward his team needs.

And with overlapping fullbacks Andoni Iraola and Ronald Matarrita helping out David Villa and Khiry Shelton out wide, Kamara would have plenty of support at the tiny Yankee Stadium field, too.