Why West Brom should think twice before signing Aston Villa star Mbwana Samatta
According to The Sun, West Brom are looking at the prospect of signing out-of-favour Aston Villa striker, Mbwana Samatta. Fenerbahce are the other club interested in his signature.
West Brom are mulling over a loan deal and could even look to buy him if a reasonable price is provided. Aston Villa are ready to offload the striker and are now looking at potential buyers.
Profile
The 27-year-old Tanzanian striker started his youth career at African Lyon back in 2008 and moved to Simba SC in 2010.
The forward switched to TP Mazembe a year later. He spent five and a half seasons there. A transfer to Europe followed with KRC Genk. He had his most prolific spell there, with 191 appearances, 76 goals and 20 assists (source – Transfermarkt).
Finally, midway through last season, Aston Villa brought him in to cover for Wesley. He featured in 16 games and scored twice. Samatta is the captain of the Tanzanian national team and has made over 50 appearances for them, scoring 18 goals.
Would Samatta be a useful signing?
West Brom already have a multitude of options in the attack, especially in the striker position. Charlie Austin and Hal Robson-Kanu are their first-choice strikers, with Kenneth Zohore as a backup.
Their wingers Matheus Pereira, Matt Phillips and Grady Diangana also contributed with goals during their promotion campaign last season. Add to that, the arrival of promising youngster Grady Diangana from West Ham and they have a very well rounded and stocked attack.
Verdict
While Samatta has been decent in the last few seasons, it doesn’t seem like West Brom need another striker. Yes, it is always good to have depth in your squad when you’re in the Premier League but Samatta does not look like an improvement on any of their available strikers.
Splashing the cash on a player who is coming off a relatively quiet season doesn’t make sense.
