Newcastle United has suffered another significant setback in the transfer market, with Aston Villa now set to beat the Magpies to Freiburg midfielder Johan Manzambi.
According to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Villa is finalizing a deal for the Switzerland international after moving ahead of Newcastle, which had already reached a club-to-club agreement with Freiburg for the 20-year-old.
According to The Guardian’s Louise Taylor, Newcastle has agreed a £51.5 million deal, roughly €60 million, with Freiburg,
while also reaching an agreement with the player for his contract with the Magpies for when the move was completed.
However, Ornstein came with an out-of-left-field report on Sunday, revealing that Manzambi had not decided on his preferred destination yet, allowing Villa to step up its pursuit following Amadou Onana’s knee ligament injury.
“The finances have never been an issue for Newcastle but other suitors were always in contention, which produced caution at St James’ Park about the chances of landing him,” Ornstein wrote.
Internally, it sounds like Newcastle had recognized the risk of waiting for the deal to become official while Manzambi remained with Switzerland at the World Cup.
According to The Athletic’s Chris Waugh, the club held face-to-face meetings with Freiburg and worked to convince Manzambi and his representatives that St. James’ Park was the best destination for his development.
However, Villa’s return to the Champions League ultimately proved a major advantage.
“Newcastle cannot offer Champions League football, or European football of any capacity, and that left them vulnerable again in these talks,” Waugh wrote.
Waugh added that the delay was not Newcastle’s fault because Manzambi wanted to wait until Switzerland’s World Cup campaign ended before deciding his future, with many suitors higher than Newcastle in the global football ranks calling him.
Once completed, the move to Aston Vill will mark the second time this summer Newcastle has seen a highly rated young target choose another Premier League club after Liverpool beat Eddie Howe’s side to Victor Munoz, just a year after they already whiffed in landing many of their then-No. 1 transfer targets.
The Magpies viewed Manzambi as a cornerstone of their squad rebuild following the departures of Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali, and given the uncertainty surrounding Bruno Guimaraes.
Now, missing out on another priority signing will only bring more headaches to Tyneside as it represents another blow to Newcastle’s summer plans and two steps backward to hopefully take one forward.
According to Waugh, the Magpies are so lost that it remains unclear which midfielder Newcastle will pursue next.
