Samatta’s Aston Villa exit hasn’t gone to plan

Ally Samatta was sold to Fenerbahce last summer after being deemed surplus to requirements at Aston Villa, but his move away from the Midlands hasn’t gone to plan. The 29-year-old was immediately loaned out by the Super Lig outfit and has struggled for form and playing time at his new club.

Samatta joined Aston Villa on a four-and-a-half-year deal from KRC Genk in January 2020 but found himself on the periphery just months into his Midlands stint. The Tanzanian international scored just two goals in 16 games and was loaned out to Fener to get first-team football.

The 29-year-old suffered from inconsistency at the Ulker Fenerbahce Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, scoring just six goals in 30 games, but Fener had a mandatory buying option that they had to honour. They signed Samatta permanently last summer and immediately loaned him out to Royal Antwerp.

Things haven’t gone well for the striker in Belgium, however, as he’s scored five goals in 26 First Division A games this season. Samatta isn’t holding down a regular starting place under Brian Priske either, with 16 of those 26 appearances coming from the bench, so his post-Villa career appears to be spiralling.

In other news, Kevin Phillips says Aston Villa shouldn’t sign Luis Suarez as he wouldn’t ‘be the same player’