Mbwana Samatta looks certain to leave Aston Villa this summer but, according to Fotomac, the striker’s destination is not necessarily Fenerbahce.
The Tanzania international may be wishing he had never left the cushy comfort of the Belgian top-flight in the first place.
Because, 15 months after Genk accepted a £10 million bid from Aston Villa, Samatta has scored just six goals in 39 league matches, splitting his time between Fenerbahce and Dean Smith’s Midland giants.
For context, the late-blooming centre-forward found the target 32 times in his final season at the Luminus Arena.
When you consider how Wesley Moraes, Bjorn Engels and Marvelous Nakamba have also performed in claret-and-blue, it would be a major surprise if Aston Villa ever dared enter the Belgian market again.
While Fenerbahce are still expected to utilise the £5 million option-to-buy clause in Samatta’s contract, turning his loan deal into a permanent transfer, it is far from certain that he will still be leading the line for the Turkish giants in 2021/22.
According to Fotomac, Samatta could be used in a swap deal that would see Emmanuel Dennis, the Club Brugge forward who stunned Real Madrid in 2019, move in the other direction to Istanbul.
Could a change of scenery be exactly what both strikers need as they look to rediscover their golden touch in front of goal?
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