Aston Villa hijack Newcastle’s pursuit of £49m Johan Manzambi from Freiburg

• Midfielder faced Villa in May’s Europa League final

• U-turn is further summer transfer blow for Newcastle

Aston Villa have hijacked Newcastle’s pursuit of Johan Manzambi, and are close to completing a £49m deal with Freiburg for the Switzerland midfielder.

Manzambi’s arrival will boost Villa before a season in which they return to the Champions League and represents a considerable blow for Newcastle. St James’ Park executives thought they had sealed a deal for the versatile 20-year-old, who has impressed at the World Cup, after flying to Germany last week but although Manzambi is understood to have offered them verbal assurances that the personal terms on offer were acceptable, he did not want anything formalised until Switzerland exited the World Cup, which they did following defeat to Argentina on Sunday. As soon as that happened, with Manzambi currently sidelined with a minor knee injury, Villa stepped in.

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