Premier League strugglers Aston Villa are ‘very close’ to confirming a deal for Genk forward Mbwana Samatta, according to boss Dean Smith.
The club have been linked with a move for the Tanzanian forward throughout the January transfer window having found goals hard to come by so far this season. It is reported that a fee of £10.5million will be enough to secure the striker’s signature and following his side’s 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion at the weekend, the Villans’ boss confirmed that he is confident of a deal being concluded.
He said: “We’re getting very close. I think the paperwork is just being ticked off with Samatta.
“If we can get that done, we’ll be really pleased because he’s a good player and on top of that, he’s a really good character as well.”
Samatta has been prolific in his time with Belgian outfit Genk. In 191 appearances for the club, he has scored 76 goals, already racking up seven so far throughout the 2019/20 campaign.
It seems that Villa’s plans to bring in attacking reinforcements this window were accelerated with Brazilian forward Wesley having been ruled out for the rest of the campaign with a knee injury.
At the current time, Villa sit 18th in the Premier League table, with the potential of Samatta potentially boosting their survival hopes. The club sit at 8/13 with Betfair to be relegated this season.
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