Aston Villa are reportedly finalising a swoop for Freiburg midfielder Johan Manzambi in a deal said to be worth almost €70m.
The 20-year-old came through the youth ranks at Servette before joining the Bundesliga outfit in 2023, and he has since gone on to impress with nine goals and 11 assists in 58 appearances at senior level.
Further, Manzambi has six goals in 16 caps for Switzerland, and so after playing a key role for Freiburg in their run to the Europa League final last season, in which they eventually fell to defeat against us of course, he has just enjoyed an impressive World Cup campaign too.
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The talent is obvious and there is little doubt that Manzambi has a bright future ahead of him for club and country, and it looks as though the next chapter in his career could come in a Villa shirt.
According to David Ornstein, Villa are now in the process of finalising a move to sign the Swiss international, who is said to want the move and the deal is now moving forward on its way to being completed after we essentially hijacked Newcastle United’s move for him.
Further, Fabrizio Romano has reported that Newcastle are set to leave talks with Manzambi’s representatives, seemingly suggesting that they have given up and accepted that he is on his way to Villa instead, and it’s reiterated that the player gave us priority over a summer switch.
And then finally, Sky Sport Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg, has reported that Manzambi to Villa is a done deal with agreements reached between the two clubs and with the player on personal terms, and that the transfer is expected to be worth almost €70m.
In turn, the signs would certainly suggest that Villa are now closing in on a huge summer signing, but we’ll wait for official confirmation that a transfer is going through as we look to bolster our squad with a top addition.
Manzambi has earned rave reviews over the past 12 months or so in particular, and there is little doubt that he is one of the most talented youngsters in Europe.
With that in mind, it’s some coup to land his signature, if we get a deal over the line, and he’ll certainly add quality to the group with Unai Emery having had a chance to watch him up close in our meeting with Freiburg last season.
However, it does perhaps also suggest that in order to sanction a big-money signing like this one, Villa could be set to approve a major exit too in order to balance our books and provide the funds for our own lavish spending, and so time will tell if that’s indeed the case and who might be on their way out of the exit door.
