Online Reporter
Mugove Chigada
Zimpapers Sports Hub
MARVELOUS Nakamba’s future at League One side Luton is hanging in the balance, amid indications the League One side are weighing their options in the transfer market.
Although Luton are yet to officially give their latest position on the Zimbabwean international, recently seen in Harare for the off-season, reports from England say Nakamba’s huge wage and fitness struggles are working against him.
Luton’s relegation from the Premier League to the Championship and now League One, inside two seasons, has been a blow for the former Aston Villa midfielder.
Yesterday it emerged that the Hatters were close to signing Championship experienced midfielder and Northern Ireland international George Saville, who is yet to agree to a new deal at Millwall.
Saville could be a direct replacement for any of Luton’s midfielders, including Nakamba, Lamine Fanne, Shandon Baptiste, Jordan Clark and Liam Walsh.
While there is no doubting Nakamba’s quality in League One, or even the Championship, it is his huge wages that the club will be considering, given the reduced revenue in League One.
“If Nakamba still has time left on his contract, I think that he’ll end up staying,” said Football League World’s Luton Town fan pundit, Simon Mills, on Sunday.
“I don’t see many teams coming in and paying him the wage that he wants at this point with the injuries that he’s suffered. Hopefully, he can put in some shifts for us next season to help us get back into the Championship.”
That, however, will depend on manager Matt Bloomfield, who is already looking elsewhere for his first summer transfer window signings. Ideally, there is no way they will offload before they get the right replacements at the right price.
It is also expected the club may first initiate talks with Nakamba camp for a mutual agreement — either a move away or a possible reduced wages agreement.
The target Savile, a box-to-box midfielder who can fit well into the managers’ 3-5-2 formation, is a player who has accumulated almost 400 second-tier appearances in his career.
While a fit Nakamba has proved to be a great player to cover the backline, the optics for now don’t look good compared to the former Chelsea academy graduate who “has had four separate spells at Millwall, playing 241 times, and has also earned 57 caps for the country.”
The Luton target played the third most minutes out of Millwall’s outfield players last season, 3 300, according to news outlet,
The Deck. This is compared to Nakamba’s 23 appearances.
In terms of wages, Savile is on £11 923 (US$16 138) a week, while Nakamba is estimated to be earning a weekly wage of around £30 000 (US$40 608).
“Due to the financial stipulations of suffering successive relegations from the Premier League to the third-tier, the Hatters will have to be brutal with who they decide to keep at Kenilworth Road,” Footballlleagueworld.co.uk stated.
“Marvelous Nakamba joined Luton in January 2023 from Aston Villa on an initial loan deal. He proceeded to play a crucial role in the club’s promotion to the Premier League and was therefore acquired permanently that summer.
“However, injury troubles have since limited the midfielder’s impact on the side, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him shown the exit door in the upcoming window.”
There is, however, no doubt as to what Luton will miss if they sell the midfielder.
Since his time with Belgian side Club Brugge and his Aston Villa time, which saw him play under Dean Smith before his world crumbled under Unai Emery, Nakamba had built a strong reputation for himself.
Inspiring Luton to Premier League promotion capped it all. Yet pundit Mills still made a brutal assessment of the situation.
“Obviously, we haven’t seen the best of Nakamba since the play-off charge, and he’s suffered a ton of injuries over the last couple of seasons, which has really put a damper on things.
“But we do love Marvelous Nakamba here at Luton Town Football Club and if he stays, great. If he leaves, we wish him all the best.”
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