Former Aston Villa full-back Alan Hutton has praised summer signing Marvelous Nakamba, saying he has been an underrated player for the club in the Premier League.

The 26 year-old signed from Belgian side Club Brugge for £10.80 million last summer, per Transfermarkt, and has featured 26 times in all competitions for the club.

It has been a hard season for Villa, who sit 19th in the Premier League with only ten games left to go, via BBC Sport, but the Zimbabwean is one of the players that the Scotsman has enjoyed watching.

When speaking to Football Insider, Hutton said: “I think Nakamba’s done well. Let’s not kid ourselves, it’s been a difficult season, it was always going to be a difficult season.

“I think Nakamba can come out after this season thinking he’s played his part. I think he is probably underrated as well.

“There’s so much focus on the likes of Tyrone, Jack, John, even Wesley. It’s been difficult but I think in terms of underrated, Nakamba.

“He’s went about his business very well, especially when the spotlight has been on other members of the squad.”

It's hard to disagree with Hutton here, the defensive midfielder wins on average four ground duels per game, whilst making 2.4 tackles per game and 1.7 interceptions per game, via SofaScore. He trumps fellow midfielder Douglas Luiz on a number of those stats, via WhoScored, with the Brazilian only averaging 1.1 tackles a game and 0.7 interceptions per game by comparison.

This highlights how big an impact the player has when it comes to breaking up opposition attacks. The club have already conceded 56 goals in the Premier League, which is the most out of all the teams, but without Nakamba in the side, this could have been a lot more.

He may not get the same amount of praise as the likes of Jack Grealish, John McGinn or Tyrone Mings, but he is certainly a key player for Villa.

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