Our view: Signs suggest Bruce has already made £8.5m transfer mistake at Newcastle

Follow us on Google Discover

Newcastle United passed on Mbwana Samatta in January.

Newcastle United enjoyed a fruitful night in front of goal on Wednesday, beating West Bromwich Albion 3-2 in the FA Cup.

Miguel Almiron bagged a brace, Valentino Lazaro got off the mark in a more advanced position, Allan Saint-Maximin recorded two assists, and Joelinton chipped in with an assist too.

Newcastle front four thrived at The Hawthorns, and hopefully the Magpies can take this into the Premier League, with no goals in their last four league games.

Joelinton remains on just one Premier League goal this season, and the lack of goals in the Newcastle attack makes one Steve Bruce decision seem a little baffling.

The Chronicle have noted that Newcastle passed on a deal for Mbwana Samatta, with Bruce believing that he wouldn’t actually improve his squad – despite wanting him at Sheffield Wednesday in the past.

Aston Villa swooped instead, paying £8.5million to sign the Tanzanian striker, a very reasonable price for a player with 42 goals in his last 18 months at Genk.

Already, Villa’s move looks great value for money. Samatta has already scored in the Premier League, bagging against Bournemouth, whilst he scored in the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City on Sunday.

Samatta has been a real pain for defenders, possessing pace, great work rate, superb aerial ability and a decent touch, and his start to life in English football will give Villa hope of staying up.

Yet his start also makes Bruce’s decision look like a mistake, as Samatta could provided an injection of life to the Newcastle attack, whilst he’s already looked like more of a natural goalscorer than Joelinton.

Yes, he’s 27, and his resale value may not be great, but how many goalscorers with Champions League experience can you buy for £8.5million? That’s not exactly a huge fee, and surely wouldn’t have broken the Newcastle bank.

Adding Samatta would have taken some pressure off Joelinton and given Bruce a different option, especially with Dwight Gayle, Andy Carroll and Yoshinori Muto offering little this season.

It seems like a bargain that passed Newcastle by, and Bruce must now hope that Samatta doesn’t fire Villa to safety at Newcastle’s expense having decided that he wasn’t worth signing.