Aston Villa have acquired the services of Mbwana Samatta as the 27-year-old Tanzanian captain will be joining the club for four and a half years.

Samatta played a total of 191 games for his former side and also managed to net an impressive 76 goals alongside 20 assists during that time.

Needless to say, he certainly looks like a rather prolific centre-forward.

But what have the media said about the Villa newbie?

Let’s find out…

Taste of Football

Taste of Football are one of those websites that are keen on producing player profiles on relatively unknown talents.

Samatta is definitely one of those but he’s also a player who seems to have impressed them quite a bit.

They go on to praise his prowess inside the box but also the intelligence with which he plays.

Here’s what they said in full in their analysis:

“Great technique combined with a spring in his step. His vision is good for a striker. Some of the passes he slips into his teammates make him almost like a playmaker in some instances. It’s that intelligence that can sometimes win a game over raw pace and strength.

“But most importantly of all, the 27-year-old looks like a great finisher. Alongside that he has a striker’s instinct with some of the first time shots he takes that find the back of the net. How he caught that first-time volley on the swivel, world-class. Samatta’s movement also ties into why I think he’s intelligent player that reads the game well. The positioning for some of the headers and goals in the box, it’s exactly what you want from a striker.”

Dean Smith, Aston Villa manager

Samatta’s new gaffer was quick to praise his new signing upon the official completion of the deal.

But instead of just pointing out his obvious characteristics as a striker – which is to bag lots of goals – Smith also emphasised that Villa are getting a player with a great mentality and personality.

Here’s what he said, as quoted by Africa.cgtn:

“He’s a recognized striker for one. He’s got a great goal scoring record in Genk. Again, (his) character and personality, which is really important to us, is fantastic. Their (Genk) sporting director said we are losing one of our great characters and that’s something that you can’t buy.”

Patrick Phiri, former Simba coach

Phiri is actually credited for having discovered Samatta in the first place while the Zambia coach was still at Simba.

Even when he first arrived at training, the now 27-year-old centre-forward was showing loads of potential, and Phiri was very quick to recognise that and praise him for it.

Here’s what he said, as quoted by BBC:

“When we invited him for training, I saw the potential. He was highly gifted so when we had a crisis with the strikers, we registered him. He’s very gifted, but number one, he is disciplined.

“From the time he started playing for Simba, he was the first to come for training every day. We started training at 6am. I arrived at 5.30 and used to find him at the stadium.

“I used him as an example to other players. If I meet him today, I will tell him he’s lived up to what I told him.”

Verdict

All in all, it seems that Aston Villa have chosen well and Samatta is a player that could both add to their mentality and goal-scoring.

Smith can certainly be satisfied with this purchase but only time will tell if the striker will actually live up to the praise he’s received over the years.