Marvelous Nakamba should remain on Aston Villa summer exit list despite stellar Luton Town form
Although Marvelous Nakamba has been in stellar form for Luton Town since completing his January loan move, Aston Villa should still look to part company with the midfielder in the summer.
The Zimbabwean international, who was signed by Dean Smith for a fee of £11million in 2019, never quite reached his potential in a claret and blue top and was subsequently given a chance to shine in the Championship by Unai Emery.
Since then, Nakamba has featured 11 times for Luton Town and helped them surge up to 4th in the Championship table and put themselves well and truly in the fight for promotion to the Premier League.
The Hatters remain unbeaten in their last seven league outings, with Nakamba pulling the strings in the heart of midfield and looking to finally be making the cut in England.
However, despite this improved form, he is still well short of Aston Villa’s alternative midfield options.
According to WhoScored, the midfielder has only managed a pass success rate of 75.7% since moving to Kenilworth Road, a percentage which is almost 10% less than Boubacar Kamara’s (84.9%) and well short of Douglas Luiz’s 87% and Leander Dendoncker’s 88.2%.
Nakamba also averages just 30 passes per game, which is once again less than Villa’s first-choice pairing, who both average over 43 passes per appearance.
The most worrying statistic of all is the average of 1.3 times per game that Nakamba has been dispossessed, which is over double the amount of Kamara’s 0.6 and still a long way above Luiz’s 0.8 per game.
These particular aspects of the loanee’s game could prove terminal to his Villa Park future in an Emery side that relies heavily on patient build-up play and accurate passing skills.
The Spanish manager has encouraged all of his back four and midfield to pursue a somewhat unfamiliar tactic since arriving, but one that has reaped its rewards in his early days in the Villa dugout.
Nakamba may be featuring prominently in Luton Town’s playoff charge, but he doesn’t look made for Emery’s Aston Villa side.
In other Aston Villa news, Dan Bardell believes a loanee could consider a Villa Park exit this summer if he isn’t given first-team assurances next season.