The striker became the first Tanzanian to sign for a Premier League club, but he shouldn’t expect to have it easy in the West Midlands
For teams down at the bottom of the Premier League table, the January transfer window offers a lifeline as they seek to buy their way out of trouble in an attempt to stay in the division.
While some of those moves are seen as teams being utterly desperate to retain their status as top flight clubs, others are prompted by necessity, as Aston Villa’s signing of Tanzania’s Mbwana Samatta shows.
With summer signing Wesley out for the season, and Jonathan Kodjia sold to Qatari club Al-Gharafa SC this week, the club obviously needed a proven name to lead their attack while sharing the burden with talisman Jack Grealish.
Having been linked with a plethora of forwards, from Chelsea’s Michy Batshuayi to on-loan Monaco frontman Islam Slimani, Villa completed the signing of Samatta in a deal reported to be £10 million on Monday.
It was all a dream, thank you @avfcofficial to make it come true.
Now it’s time to give my 100% for the team. pic.twitter.com/WS69v9iCN3— Mbwana Samatta (@Samagoal77_) January 21, 2020
By swapping Genk for the West Midlands, the striker’s made history by becoming the first player from his nation to play in the Premier League, a truly amazing feat. However, he shouldn’t expect a bed of roses in England.
Aston Villa completed the signing of Tanzanian striker Mbwana Samatta from Genk. The Tanzanian striker becomes the first player from his country to play in the Premier League.#PL pic.twitter.com/8IouywI3Jb
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) January 21, 2020
Whenever a team is down in the lower reaches of the table, the tendency, unsurprisingly, is to opt for strikers in the January window.
This has often been common over the years for teams fighting for their lives, but this asks a lot of strikers who have to adapt to new surroundings, and potentially a new league, halfway through the season.
Danny Graham was signed by Sunderland for £5 million on Deadline Day in January 2013, but the move didn’t turn out well as the frontman failed to score in his first half of the campaign, which ended with the Black Cats narrowly staying up. He fired blanks in all 11 appearances.
Then-Sunderland boss Martin O’Neill purchased the frontman to alleviate the load on top scorer Steven Fletcher (who was to get injured in their run-in), and it nearly went horribly wrong.
Graham was to score only once for them before leaving on a free transfer in June 2016.
Also, in January 2018, Andre Ayew re-joined Swansea City for around £18 million as Carlos Carvalhal’s side desperately tried to beat the drop.
The move made sense too, given the Ghanaian had scored a goal every three games in his first spell at the club. However, on his return, he didn’t find the back of the net and the Swans were relegated from the top flight.
Afonso Aves, Savio Nsereko, Kostas Mitroglou and Steven Naismith are other examples of attacking talent who were signed by Prem strugglers in January, only to leave a minimal impact at their new employers.
Dean Smith’s choice to sign the Tanzanian is reasonable on paper owing to Wesley’s long-term injury on New Year’s Day.
The Villans were probably going to be in the market for a striker anyway, given the 23-year-old’s inability to score frequently since joining from Club Brugge in the summer. The Brazilian scored just five times in 21 appearances before his layoff, prompting an over reliance on Grealish for goals and assists.
With seven goals and five assists in the league this season, the Englishman accounts for nearly 40 percent of Smith’s side’s goals, but Samatta can come in and change that.
The forward netted 23 times in Genk’s run to the title last term, a tally only bettered by Zulte Waregem’s Hamdi Harbaoui who scored 25 goals.
Samagoal’s aerial prowess will also be an asset to Smith’s side, who have surprisingly not scored a headed goal in the league this season, in spite of Wesley’s presence in the team.
That run continued in the Villans’ comeback 2-1 win over Watford on Tuesday night, a victory which took them to 16th in the table on 25 points.
With the teams concentrated at the bottom, it’s likely to be a close run thing till the end of the campaign.
“Can he keep us up?” was likely the question asked in the Villa boardroom before they spent on Samatta.
It’s a question Villains will be asking too till they get a glimpse of the frontman, who could make his debut in a relegation six-pointer at Bournemouth on February 1.
The history-making Tanzanian packs a punch, and could lessen the load on an overburdened Grealish. However, he must settle and adapt quickly if he’s to avoid falling into the category of expensive mid-season signings who turned out to be flops.
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