VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA \u2013 JUNE 24: Johan Manzambi #9 of Switzerland celebrates scoring his team\u2019s second goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group B match between Switzerland and Canada at BC Place Vancouver on June 24, 2026 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Alex Grimm\/Getty Images\/AFP (Photo by ALEX GRIMM \/ GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA \/ Getty Images via AFP)<\/p>\n
By Adegboyega Adeleye<\/p>\n
Aston Villa have entered the race to sign Switzerland midfielder Johan Manzambi, with Unai Emery\u2019s side working to hijack Newcastle United\u2019s proposed \u00a350 million move for one of the breakout stars of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n
According to the BBC, Newcastle had appeared to be leading the race for the 20-year-old Freiburg midfielder, but Villa have now intensified efforts to lure the highly-rated Swiss international to Villa Park.<\/p>\n
The deal, if completed, would surpass the \u00a350 million Villa paid Everton for Amadou Onana in 2024, making Manzambi the club\u2019s record signing.<\/p>\n
Villa are eager to strengthen their midfield ahead of the new season amid growing uncertainty over Youri Tielemans, who is in advanced talks over a move to Manchester United, while Onana faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury during Belgium\u2019s World Cup last-16 victory over the United States.<\/p>\n
Manzambi has emerged as one of Europe\u2019s most sought-after young midfielders after an outstanding World Cup campaign with Switzerland.<\/p>\n
The Freiburg star scored three goals and provided two assists, becoming the youngest player since 1966 to register five goal involvements at a single World Cup and establishing himself as one of the tournament\u2019s biggest revelations.<\/p>\n
Champions League football is understood to be a major attraction for Manzambi, with Villa set to compete in Europe\u2019s elite club competition next season after securing qualification under Emery.<\/p>\n
The midfielder is already familiar with Villa, having faced the Premier League side in the UEFA Europa League final in May, where Emery\u2019s men claimed a 3-0 victory in Istanbul.<\/p>\n
Villa are also expected to balance their books as they comply with UEFA\u2019s financial regulations.<\/p>\n
Left-back Lucas Digne is close to completing a return to Paris Saint-Germain, while forward Lewis Dobbin is set to join Southampton in a deal worth around \u00a39 million after failing to make a senior appearance following his move from Everton.<\/p>\n
Despite Newcastle\u2019s long-standing interest, Villa\u2019s late intervention has turned the race for Manzambi into one of the summer\u2019s biggest transfer battles, with the World Cup sensation now weighing up his next move.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA \u2013 JUNE 24: Johan Manzambi #9 of Switzerland celebrates scoring his team\u2019s second goal during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103168,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[23501,23416,12938,41,17],"class_list":["post-103167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-switzerland","tag-aston-villa","tag-manzambi","tag-newcastle","tag-swiss","tag-switzerland"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116917485383087570","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}