BY HENRY MHARA
ASTON VILLA midfielder Marvelous Nakamba has been linked with a move to Valencia but the Warriors star is set to snub a move to Spain while his club are not open to either selling or loaning him out.
Spanish newspapers yesterday reported that the 27-year-old figures high on the La Liga side’s wish list as the struggling giants seek a holding midfielder.
Arsenal’s Lucas Torreira who is on loan at Atletico Madrid is their main target, but the log leaders are not willing to let go of the Uruguayan. Torreira has only started two games this season.
Nakamba has struggled to hold down a regular starting place at the high flying Villa due to the trusted midfield partnership of Douglas Luiz and John McGinn.
Despite seeing little game time in his time at the club, the Hwange born player is reportedly keen to stay on and fight for his position in the team.
Sources close to him also told NewsDay that his club is also uninterested in parting ways with the player who is only in his second season at Villa having arrived from Belgium side Club Brugge in 2019 to become only the fourth Zimbabwean to play in the Premier League after Peter Ndlovu, Bruce Grobbelaar and Benjani Mwaruwari.
The sources said that some English Premier League including Newcastle and Crystal Palace have made attempts to sign him but we’re rebuffed by Villa manager Dean Smith who regards Nakamba a reliable back-up for Luiz and McGinn.
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He deputised well for the suspended McGinn as Villa strolled to a 2-0 win over Newcastle at the weekend in a performance that attracted praise from Dean.
“Marvelous came in against Newcastle and was excellent, and that’s important. When you have good structure and organisation, players can come in and they know their roles,” said Dean earlier this week.
Despite the excellent performance, Dean chose to overlook Nakamba and returned McGinn to the starting line-up for Villa’s visit to Burnley on Wednesday. The Birmingham based side were beaten 3-2.
It is the performance against Newcastle for the former Bantu Rovers star that appeared to have done enough to earn him the attention of Valencia. Nakamba made 34 appearances in all competitions last season but has only played five times in the Premier League for Villa this season. He has played three full matches in Cup competitions for the club this season.
He has also been linked with a move away from Villa before, with Turkish side Trabzonspor said to be keen on him before the last transfer window.
The January transfer market closes in the UK on Monday night and that means a move away for him is highly unlikely.
Follow Henry onTwitter @henrymhara
