Newcastle agree €60m deal for Johan Manzambi - Sky Germany

Newcastle United have agreed a €60 million (£51 million) fee with Freiburg for Johan Manzambi.

Sky Sports Germany's Florian Plettenberg has posted on X on Wednesday that Newcastle and Freiburg have reached an agreement on a fee for the Swiss international for €60m as was expected.

After some outstanding performances at the World Cup, it was starting to look a bit nervy for Newcastle fans as to whether they could get this deal over the line before a 'bigger club' gazumped us.

There had been a weird sense of calm around the deal, though. Keith Downie, when first mentioning the interest in Manzambi, spoke about how other clubs becoming interested wouldn't affect the deal, almost as if he knew that it was practically done already.

Florian Plettenberg says an agreement has been reached

According to Plettenberg, Newcastle beat Aston Villa to the signing of the 20-year-old. Johan Manzambi is still with Switzerland at the World Cup, and despite being injured, his focus remains on that competition.

"EXCLUSIVE | Newcastle and SC Freiburg have reached a full agreement over the transfer of Johan Manzambi worth €60m.

"All agreed between the clubs. #NUFC are now finalising the final details of the agreement with Manzambi. Long-term contract prepared.

"Aston Villa were also in the race following Amadou Onana’s ACL injury, but Newcastle are the clear favourites. Manzambi, who is currently injured, remains fully focused on the World Cup."

There's a bit of ambiguity in Plettenberg's post when he called Newcastle 'clear favourites', so there's clearly still a bit of work to be done.

Manzambi's ceiling is sky-high

It has long been suggested that the financials of the deal wouldn't be a problem in terms of reaching an agreement with Freiburg and Manzambi.

If this signing goes through, then it will be massive for Newcastle. Manzambi has shown at the World Cup that he is a huge talent, and his ceiling is sky-high.

This is the bit of positivity we needed today after the Bruno Guimarães news. We're still moving forward.