Marvelous Nakamba

Marvelous Nakamba (born 19 January 1994) is a Zimbabwean professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for English Premier League club Aston Villa and the Zimbabwe national team.

Marvelous Nakamba
Nakamba in 2016
Personal information
Full name Marvelous Nakamba[1]
Date of birth (1994-01-19) 19 January 1994[2]
Place of birth Hwange, Zimbabwe
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[3]
Playing position(s) Central midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Aston Villa
Number 11
Youth career
0000–2008 Highlanders
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2012 Bantu Rovers
2012–2014 Nancy II 32 (1)
2014 Nancy 2 (0)
2014–2017 Vitesse 69 (2)
2017–2019 Club Brugge 53 (0)
2019– Aston Villa 22 (0)
National team‡
2012 Zimbabwe U20
2015– Zimbabwe 18 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:56, 17 June 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 02:11, 26 July 2019 (UTC)

Club career

Early career

Born in Hwange near Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, Nakamba made his senior debuts with local Bantu Rovers in 2010, aged 16.[4] He left the country in July 2012, and had trials at French side Nancy.[5]

Nakamba officially joined Nancy on 24 December 2012, aged 18, for an undisclosed fee.[6] He received the international clearance seven days later,[7] and was assigned to the reserve team in CFA.

On 9 May 2014, Nakamba played his first match as a professional, starting in a 3–1 home win against Angers SCO.[8] He played his second match seven days later, coming on as a late substitute in a 0–0 away draw against AJ Auxerre,[9] and a new deal was offered to him on 19 May.[10]

Vitesse

In July 2014, Nakamba went on a trial at Eredivisie side Vitesse.[11] On 13 August, he signed a four-year deal with the Arnhem side aged 20 years.[12] Nakamba made his debut for the club on 27 September, coming on as a late substitute for Kelvin Leerdam in a 6–2 away win against Dordrecht. Nakamba started to establish himself in Vitesse's starting eleven during the 2015–16 campaign and went on to appear thirty times, scoring once against local rivals De Graafschap in a 2–2 draw.[13]

He played as Vitesse won the final of the KNVB Beker 2–0 against AZ Alkmaar on 30 April 2017 to lead the club, 3-time runners up, to the title for the first time in its 125-year history.[14][15]

Club Brugge

On 20 June 2017, Nakamba joined Belgian side Club Brugge on a four-year deal for a fee around the margin of £4 million, aged 23 years.[16][17] He made his league debut for the club on 29 July 2017 in a 4–0 away victory over Sporting Lokeren. He was replaced by Hans Vanaken in the 75th minute, having picked up a yellow card.[18]

Aston Villa

On 1 August 2019, Marvelous Nakamba signed for Aston Villa aged 25 years, for a fee of €12 million. He joined up with former club Brugge team-mates Wesley Moraes and Björn Engels, who had already joined Villa in that transfer window.[19] Nakamba made his first appearance for Villa in a 6–1 emphatic victory against Crewe Alexandra in an EFL Cup game.[20] After the game, Zimbabwean footballer Peter Ndlovu confirmed that Nakamba would have a statue built in his honour in Hwange, as he was only the 4th Zimbabwean player to play in the English Football League.[21] Nakamba made his Premier League debut on 16 September 2019, in a 0–0 draw against West Ham at Villa Park.[22]

In October 2019, a video purportedly showing racist chants from Aston Villa fans about Nakamba and teammate John McGinn surfaced, and was condemned by the club.[23]

International career

Nakamba is a Zimbabwe international, having represented the country in the under-20 level. On 13 June 2015, aged 21 years, he made his debut with the main squad, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2–1 win against Malawi.[24]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 5 October 2019[25]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Nancy II 2012–13 CFA Group B 120———120
2013–14 CFA 2 Group C 201———201
Total 321———321
Nancy 2013–14 Ligue 2 200000—20
Vitesse 2014–15 Eredivisie 6000—2[lower-alpha 1]080
2015–16 Eredivisie 30110—2[lower-alpha 2]0331
2016–17 Eredivisie 31151——362
Total 67261—40773
Club Brugge 2017–18 Belgian First Division A 35050—4[lower-alpha 3]0440
2018–19 18000—5[lower-alpha 4]0230
Total 53050—90670
Aston Villa 2019–20 Premier League 4010—0050
Career total 1583111001301744
  1. Appearance(s) in Eredivisie European play-offs
  2. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  3. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, two in UEFA Europa League
  4. Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International
As of 26 July 2019
National teamYearAppsGoals
Zimbabwe 201510
201640
201750
201850
201930
Total180

Honours

Vitesse

Club Brugge

Aston Villa

Zimbabwe

References
  1. "Updated squad lists for 2019/20 Premier League". Premier League. 6 February 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  2. "Marvelous Nakamba: Overview". ESPN. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  3. "Marvelous Nakamba: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  4. "Nakamba tipped for success". The Zimbabwean. 12 February 2013. Archived from the original on 30 July 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  5. "Bantu Rovers player at AS Nancy FC in France". Bantu Rovers FC. 20 July 2012. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  6. "Zimbabwean starlet joins AS Nancy". SuperSport. 24 December 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  7. "Nakamba keen to impress". News Day. 31 December 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  8. "AS Nancy Lorraine – Angers SCO". Ligue 1. 9 May 2014. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  9. "AJ Auxerre – AS Nancy Lorraine". Ligue 1. 16 May 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  10. "Zimbabwe: Nancy Offer Nakamba Deal". All Africa. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  11. "Nakamba on trials at Dutch side Vitesse". Southern Eye. 14 July 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  12. "Vitesse haalt Marvelous Nakamba" [Vitesse signs Marvelous Nakamba] (in Dutch). Vitesse. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  13. "De Graafschap vs. Vitesse". Soccerway. 21 February 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  14. Editorial, Reuters. "Vitesse claim first major trophy with Cup triumph". U.S. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  15. "AZ Alkmaar vs. Vitesse Arnhem – Football Match Line-Ups – April 30, 2017". ESPN. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  16. "Zimbabwe's Nakamba in Belgium move". BBC Sport. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  17. "Nakamba seals Belgium move". The Herald. 21 June 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  18. "Sporting Lokeren vs. Club Brugge – 29 July 2017". Soccerway.
  19. "Transfer news: Aston Villa sign Marvelous Nakamba". Aston Villa F.C. 1 August 2019.
  20. "Crewe Alexandra 1–6 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. 27 August 2019.
  21. "Peter Ndlovu Confirms That Nakamba Will Have Statue Erected in His Honour". Pindula News. 28 August 2019.
  22. Ames, Nick (16 September 2019). "Aston Villa 0–0 West Ham United". The Guardian.
  23. "Aston Villa 'disgusted' by fans' racist chant at Norwich game". BBC. 7 October 2019.
  24. "Warriors extinguish Flames". Daily News. 14 June 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  25. "M. Nakamba". Soccerway. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  26. "Is Marvelous Nakamba ready for one of Europe's major leagues?". ESPN. 11 May 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  27. McNulty, Phil (1 March 2020). "Aston Villa 1–2 Manchester City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  28. https://www.flashscore.com/match/SMMoj8XA/#lineups;1
  29. http://www.cosafa.com/zimbabwe-take-bronze-south-africa-seal-the-plate-at-cosafa-cup/
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