ZIMBABWE midfielder Marvelous Nakamba did not put a foot wrong in his long-awaited Aston Villa debut on Tuesday night against Crewe Alexandra in the Football League Cup second round at Gresty Road.
Nakamba gave a performance worthy of his hyped up signing in his side’s a 6-1 thumping with pundits describing his performance as flawless.
Birmingham Live’s dedicated Aston Villa writer Ashley Preece said “tougher tests will come, make no mistake about that, but Nakamba got some much-needed minutes in the legs and impressed throughout”.
“A very slick operator, it has to be said,” Preece said in his assessment.
Preece said the Hwange born midfielder anchored Villa’s midfield well and things will only get better for Nakamba in claret and blue.
“Does have his work cut out to edge out Douglas Luiz in the holding midfield role but he’s a completely different player as he’s much more defensive-minded – and Smith will no doubt turn to him depending on the Premier League opposition,” Preece said, adding:
“Took an extravagant pot shot from range but, all in all, it was a solid showing from Nakamba, who’ll be a key member of Villa’s squad. Fast, slick on the ball and positionally good. Didn’t see too much of him which is exactly what you want from your defensive midfielder, screened the back four admirably.”
This comes as the Hwange community are making plans to erect a statue of the 25-year-old in in the coal-mining town where Nakamba was born.
“Millions of Zimbabweans have also adopted the claret and blues as their new ‘second team’ in the hope that Nakamba can shine, following his switch from Belgium’s Club Brugge,” The Athletic reported earlier this week, echoing sentiments from former Zimbabwe international Peter Ndlovu.
“Marvelous knows that we are recognising his hard work with this idea and hopefully the statue will be a confidence booster for him,” Ndlovu told The Athletic.
“Moving to Aston Villa is an unbelievable achievement for him and we must show our support as a nation.
“The people of Hwange recognise their heroes and while the exact details are yet to be finalised, discussions are taking place to decide what happens next.”
