Mbwana Samatta leaves Aston Villa to join Turkish giants Fenerbahce on a four-year deal after scoring just twice in eight months
- The Tanzanian played just 16 matches in all competitions under Dean Smith
- Samatta joins Fenerbahce after the club’s worst league season in 32 years
- Villa could move for one of Chelsea pair Ruben Loftus-Cheek or Ross Barkley
Mbwana Samatta has left Aston Villa after just eight months to join Turkish side Fenerbahce on a four-year deal.
The £8.5million signing from Genk become the first Tanzanian to score in the Premier League when he netted on his debut in the competition against Bournemouth, but his only other strike for the West Midlands club came in a 2-1 defeat to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final on March 1.
Samatta had not featured so far this season for Villa, with the additions of Ollie Watkins for a club-record £28m and Bertrand Traore for £19m underlining his place in the pecking order.
Mbwana Samatta’s time at Villa was brief after scoring 75 goals in 191 games for Genk
The 27-year-old ended his time in England with two goals in 16 games and had been offered to rivals West Bromwich Albion earlier this month before ultimately making the move to Fenerbahce.
The Istanbul club finished seventh last season – their worst league campaign since 1987/88. Their squad includes former West Ham United forward Enner Valencia and ex-Bayern Munich midfielder Luiz Gustavo.
Villa are still looking to add players on loan themselves, with Chelsea’s Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek among those they are keen on.
However, they can only sign one of the pair.
Ross Barkley replaced Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the second half of Chelsea’s win over Brighton
Loftus-Cheek was left out of Chelsea’s squad to face Barnsley on Wednesday, but talks with Villa are at a very early stage, with other clubs also interested if he is allowed to leave.
Loftus-Cheek started in Chelsea’s 3-1 win against Brighton on the opening weekend of the season, but lasted just an hour, when he was replaced by Barkley.