Ally Samatta will not be returning to Belgium in January, with Club Brugge manager Philippe Clement telling Voetbal24 that the Aston Villa man is not a target.
It is only nine months since the Tanzania international was sparking wild, claret-and-blue clad celebrations at Wembley, powering home a trademark bullet header as Villa gave Manchester City a scare in the League Cup final.
But that was about as good as it got for Samatta in English football.
The £10 million targetman was full of energy and endeavour, but a record of one goal in 14 Premier League games meant that Aston Villa jumped at the chance to replace him when the opportunity arose, investing a club-record fee in Ollie Watkins over the summer.
Samatta is now out on loan at Fenerbahce but continues to struggle in the final third. In eight games, the former Genk star has scored twice in Turkey.
While speculation has suggested that Club Brugge would come to his rescue next month, the Jupiler League champions have now distanced themselves from a deal.
“We often talk about players for certain positions – but Samatta’s name has not been mentioned. Ally is also not the player that we talked about,” said manager Clement.
Samatta has another four years on his Aston Villa contract and, unless he can find form sooner rather than later, Fenerbahce will not exactly be jumping at the chance to turn his loan into a permanent deal.
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