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Newcastle United still have work to do to sign Switzerland midfielder Johan Manzambi as there is ‘nothing finalised or agreed yet’, according to journalist Luke Edwards.
The Magpies have banked a huge transfer fee from the departure of Sandro Tonali to Tottenham Hotspur and they are keen to fill the gap left by the Italian before the end of the summer transfer window.
Newcastle recently missed out on Atalanta’s Sergej Levak as the player signed a new deal with the club to keep him until 2031, but did manage to agree a deal with Ajax to sign their promising Dutch midfielder Sean Steur.
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Eddie Howe’s side have also shown interest in Swiss international Manzambi and it was suggested that Steur’s arrival will not alter Newcastle’s plan to sign the Freiburg star.
Manzambi is highly rated at Freiburg and he has turned some heads with his performances for the Swiss national team in the ongoing World Cup, attracting interest from several European outfits.
Aston Villa are among Manzambi’s admirers and Amadou Onana’s injury during Belgium’s round of 16 fixture against USA last week has forced them to intensify their efforts to land a midfielder.
It has been claimed that Newcastle do have an agreement in place now to sign Manzambi from Freiburg, but it appears there is still work to do.
Manager Time at Club
Eddie Howe November 2021 – present
Steve Bruce July 2019 – October 2021
Rafael Benítez March 2016 – June 2019
Steve McClaren June 2015 – March 2016
Alan Pardew December 2010 – December 2014
While ‘significant progress’ has been made on the deal and Newcastle are ‘very close’, there has been no agreement and nothing has been finalised yet.
When the dust settles, if Newcastle do finalise the deal, they are widely tipped to pay around €60m to the Bundesliga outfit, while handing Manzambi a long-term deal at St James’ Park.
The stakes in Newcastle’s summer transfer window as high as the club were criticised for the way they used the Alexander Isak fee last summer, signing Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa.
Wissa himself cost around €60m to sign from Brentford, despite rapidly closing in on his 30s.
With last season not having turned out well for Newcastle, with the ramifications to be felt soon through no European football, the Magpies will need to get their deals right and make the most of the huge cash flowing into their coffers.