adminIF you believe Marvelous Nakamba has been a flop at Aston Villa, and deserves to be traded, what then will you say about Mbwana Samatta?
The Tanzanian golden boy, whose arrival at Villa sparked hysteria in his home country, including some who filled a stadium in Dar es Salaam to watch him in action in his first match, has returned to Belgium to rejoin KRC Genk.
Samatta left the same club, in January 2020, after completing a dream £9.45million move to the English Premiership.
He arrived five months after Nakamba also moved from the Belgian top-flight league to join the Midlands club.
However, Samatta scored just twice in 16 appearances for Villa – including a sublime header in the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City.
He had been signed as a replacement for Wesley, another footballer who left the Belgian top-flight league to join Villa, following the Brazilian’s devastating ACL injury in 2020. Wesley spent part of last season on loan at his former Belgian side, Club Brugge, where he used to be Nakamba’s teammate, before they both moved to Villa.
He was then loaned to Brazilian club, Internacional, before being moved, once again on loan, to Spanish Segunda club, Levante, where he is now playing.
Samatta, 29, hasn’t fared any better.
After just six months at Villa Park, he was shipped out on loan to Fenerbahce following Ollie Watkins’ arrival in September 2020. Villa had an obligatory buy option, included in Samatta’s loan deal, which resulted in the Turkish club paying £5.4million for the centre-forward last year. Samatta, who still has two years remaining on his Fenerbahce contract (six goals in 33 games), was sent out on loan to Royal Antwerp last season, where he scored nine goals in 35 matches playing alongside two former Villa players, Bjorn Engels and Ritchie De Laet.
The striker has now linked back up with KRC Genk, a club that really rocketed his playing career, where he scored an impressive 76 goals from 191 matches.
Genk have a buy option in the loan deal to make Samatta’s switch a permanent one in the summer of 2023.
On Instagram, Samatta said: “New chapter. Happy to be back at KRC Genk. So excited and can’t wait to see all of you Genkies soon.”
It’s his third club in the past two years since leaving Villa. Samatta left Tanzania in 2011 after a stint with Simba SC and went on to score 20 goals in 40 matches in the CAF Champions League.
He is arguably the most successful Tanzanian footballer after his exploits in Europe. – Sports Reporter/Birmingham Mail
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter