Zimbabwe’s defensive midfielder, Marvelous Nakamba, is all set to be a key player in the Aston Villa squad next season, which promises to move fans at Betway online sports betting. The English Premier League outfit are believed to be quite impressed by the 27-year-old, who was in the starting line-up for most of the last few games of the 20-21 season. The new campaign for the Midlands outfit will begin with a game against Watford at Vicarage Road. This can be quite a tricky game for the club, who were able to stay in the Premier League for a third consecutive campaign after winning promotion from the Championship under Dean Smith.
Nakamba is expected to be a key figure in the Villa squad which will take on Walsall on Wednesday. This will be the first pre-season friendly game for the Midlands outfit. The position in the starting line-up is almost guaranteed for Nakamba, as Douglas Luiz has had a lot more holidays due to his involvement for Brazil at the Olympic Games. Luiz also featured in the Brazil squad at the Copa America, which was also present in the Betway catalog as well as other championships. The Brazilian was an unused substitute in many of the games including the Copa America final and there is a strong suggestion among the Aston Villa camp that he may find it difficult to dislodge Nakamba from the starting line-up.
Last season, the 27-year-old was more than an excellent backup and Dean Smith would be very unfair on the Zimbabwean if he was to be dropped in favour of the Brazilian.
Nakamba returned with figures of 13 appearances (nine of them from the start) in the 2020-21 campaign. He began his career with Bantu Rovers in 2009 before moving to French outfit Nancy in 2012. He was unable to establish himself as a first-team regular at the French club and this led to the move to Dutch outfit Vitesse Arnhem in 2014. This turned out to be the turning point in the central midfielder’s career, as he became an integral part of the club in the three years.
Club Brugge signed him for around £4 million when he was just 23 years old after seeing the remarkable potential. His two years with the Belgian outfit also turned out to be productive as he made more than 50 appearances in the league. Following his two seasons in the Belgian league, Aston Villa moved to sign him for around €12 million. Still only 27, the midfielder’s peak does seem to be quite a while away.
His performances with the various clubs have led to an international call-up and he made his debut for the Zimbabwean national team in 2015. Since then, he has featured in 18 games for the national team.
Even though the midfielder is expected to start the campaign with Villa, Marvelous Nakamba will not be available for a significant chunk of the campaign in its crucial stages, as he will be with Zimbabwe, which is currently present at Betway also with its cricket team, at the Africa Cup of Nations. This major African competition takes place from the second week of January to the first week of February.
