Johan Manzambi scored three goals and registered two assists for Switzerland at the World Cup. Aston Villa are working on a deal for Freiburg midfielder Johan Manzambi as they attempt to hijack a move to Newcastle United.

Newcastle had appeared to be in pole position to sign Manzambi in a deal worth in the region of £50m, but BBC Sport previously reported the club had been a little cautious given the interest from elsewhere. Any deal could eclipse the record £50m Villa paid Everton for Amadou Onana two years ago.

Villa are poised to lose Youri Tielemans, with Manchester United in talks over the Belgium international, when they already needed midfield reinforcements. Onana suffered an anterior cruciate knee ligament injury in Belgium's last-16 win over the USA, which will likely rule him out until next year.

The chance to play Champions League football for the first time with Aston Villa is understood to be a huge attraction for 20-year-old Manzambi. He previously came up against Villa in the Europa League final in May, when Unai Emery's side won 3-0 in Istanbul.

The Swiss went on to become one of the breakout stars of the World Cup as the youngest player to chalk up five goal involvements at the tournament since 1966. Villa's finances are tight as they look to comply with UEFA financial regulations, and left-back Lucas Digne is close to rejoining Paris St-Germain.

Villa are also due to sell forward Lewis Dobbin to Southampton for about £9m. Dobbin spent last season on loan at Preston and also had spells at West Brom and Norwich but never played for Villa after joining from Everton for £10m in 2024.

This video can not be played: Switzerland's Manzambi scores superb double against Bosnia.

This is a painful case of deja vu for Newcastle. It was just a few weeks ago that the club lost out on another top target, Victor Munoz, who opted to join Liverpool. Talent identification is clearly not the issue.

Newcastle have targeted Manzambi, Munoz, Hugo Ekitike, Joao Pedro, Benjamin Sesko, and James Trafford in the last 12 months. But losing out to Aston Villa for a top target would be another real setback in the transfer market for Newcastle.

If Newcastle miss out, the big question is can the club discreetly pivot to another promising target, as they did with Bazoumana Toure after Munoz went elsewhere? On one hand, there is plenty of time left in the window to do just that and strengthen other areas of the side. On the other, there is a lot of work to do and little margin for any further knockbacks.

The sight of those players not involved at the World Cup returning for pre-season training on Monday was a timely reminder of that.

This video can not be played: Manzambi's dazzling run sets up Embolo for opener against Algeria.

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