{"id":808931,"date":"2026-07-18T00:00:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T00:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/808931\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T00:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T00:00:11","slug":"johan-manzambi-aston-villa-sign-newcastle-target-from-freiburg-in-club-record-59-5m-deal-football-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/808931\/","title":{"rendered":"Johan Manzambi: Aston Villa sign Newcastle target from Freiburg in club-record \u00a359.5m deal | Football News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aston Villa have beaten Newcastle to the signing of Johan Manzambi after completing a club-record \u00a359.5m deal for the midfielder from Freiburg.<\/p>\n

Newcastle had agreed a deal worth \u00a349m for the Switzerland international, who was a breakout star at the World Cup as he scored three goals in their run to the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n

However, Villa made a late bid for the 20-year-old to beat Eddie Howe’s side to the signing.<\/p>\n

According to Sky in Germany, the total package for Manzambi is worth almost \u00a359.5m (\u20ac70m) with add-ons included.<\/p>\n

This is a club-record transfer, surpassing the \u00a350m Villa paid Everton for Amadou Onana in the summer of 2024.<\/p>\n

Manzambi becomes Villa’s first signing of the summer, with the Europa League holders also closing in on a \u00a338m deal for Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes.<\/p>\n

Villa’s midfield recruitment comes after the \u00a335m exit of Youri Tielemans to Manchester United<\/a>, while Onana is set for a lengthy absence on the sidelines after a serious knee injury at the World Cup with Belgium.<\/p>\n

How Villa beat Toon to Manzambi signing<\/p>\n

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Manzambi had verbally agreed personal terms with Newcastle but was waiting until after Switzerland’s World Cup was over before making a final call on his future.<\/p>\n

But the offer of Champions League football is said to have been a key motivator behind his decision to opt for Villa.<\/p>\n

Manzambi – who is primarily a central midfielder – enjoyed a breakout season for the Bundesliga club last season with seven goals and nine assists in 47 games in all competitions.<\/p>\n

He was also named Europa League Young Player of the Season for his role in helping Freiburg to the final last season, where Aston Villa beat them 3-0 in Istanbul.<\/p>\n

Why Manzambi could be a revelation at Villa<\/a> <\/p>\n

\"Johan<\/p>\n

Image:
\n Johan Manzambi has become Aston Villa’s club-record signing<\/p>\n

In a World Cup dominated by the biggest names, Johan Manzambi has been the exception to the rule. With more goals than starts for Switzerland, he has been a breakout star, earning his big move after one full season as a starter at Freiburg.<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old talent rejected an offer from Newcastle United to sign for Aston Villa, Freiburg’s conquerors in the Europa League final in May. A price of \u00a349m reflects Manzambi’s rapid rise, although his summer could have been even more spectacular.<\/p>\n

After his man-of-the-match display against Bosnia-Herzegovina – scoring twice after coming on in the 71st minute – he scored and assisted against Canada. But he missed the quarter-final defeat to Argentina with a minor injury to leave a country wondering.<\/p>\n

Could he have driven them on against ageing opposition in extra-time? Would Switzerland have even needed extra-time with Manzambi around? “We missed him massively,” Bruno Berner tells Sky Sports. “He would have given us something different.”<\/p>\n

Read here for Adam Bate’s feature on Manzambi in full.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aston Villa have beaten Newcastle to the signing of Johan Manzambi after completing a club-record \u00a359.5m deal for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":808932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-808931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=808931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/808932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=808931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=808931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=808931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}