Aston Villa journalist James Rushton has been discussing Villa striker Mbwana Samatta and his future at the club.
This comes after Rushton recently made an appearance on the Birmingham Mail’s Claret & Blue Podcast in which he talked about a number of topics related to Dean Smith’s side.
On the topic of which current Villa players could be in danger of leaving the club this summer, Rushton was asked about the Tanzania striker.
He said: “If Villa bring in two strikers, I feel like he’s very clearly one on the chopping block, but if you’re only bringing in that one key striker, Samatta stays, for me. I was really impressed with his mentality at the end of Project Restart, I know he really struggled to even get a shot on target, but the way he was leading the press and getting involved and being that leader from the front, I feel like that was something we were completely missing, even with Wesley and [Keinan] Davis, we didn’t have that leader up front.”
Villa signed Samatta back in the previous January transfer window from Belgian side KRC Genk for a fee of £9.45 million after Wesley suffered a serious injury on New Year’s Day.
Since arriving at Villa Park, Samatta, who is currently valued at £8.55 million, made 16 appearances for the Villans but he only managed to score two goals for the club in that time.
What should Villa do with Samatta this summer?
Keep him
Loan him out
Sell him
TIF Thoughts…
While Samatta didn’t exactly hit the ground running in terms of his goalscoring prowess when he arrived in England, it would be a shame if Villa were to sell the 27-year-old this summer before he’s had the chance to complete a full season as a Villa player.
If Samatta stays at Villa this summer, he would undoubtedly be hoping for a better season next year where he can hopefully be their main goalscorer.