WATCH: Johan Manzambi appears to confirm move to Aston Villa at World Cup
On Sunday evening, it was reported that Aston Villa were ready to hijack Newcastle United's move for Johan Manzambi.
Newcastle's worst fears were realised on Sunday when it was reported that the 20-year-old Swiss sensation had rejected Newcastle in favour of a move to Aston Villa.
While Villa still have to find the money to complete the deal, it looks as though the Freiburg star will join Unai Emery's side this summer despite widespread reports linking him with a move to St James' Park.
Newcastle were thought to be waiting until Switzerland were out of the World Cup to confirm the move, but it now looks as though Aston Villa got in there before that had even happened.
"Are you going to Villa?"
The Magpies had verbal agreements in place with both Freiburg and Johan Manzambi, but verbal agreements aren't worth the paper they're printed on.
In a viral video clip doing the rounds on X, Aston Villa keeper Emi Martinez approached Manzambi after Argentina had knocked Switzerland out of the World Cup and asked him about his move.
The clip appears to show Martinez saying "Are you going to Villa?" with Manzambi nodding and Martinez then smiling and congratulating him.
Was that real or AI?
In these days of AI, it's hard to know what's truly real and what isn't, but this does look pretty legit.
Obviously, this is now likely to kick up a storm of 'Why did we wait?' but the truth of the matter is, if we'd had Champions League football to offer, he wouldn't have been hesitating and waiting for another offer.
Our poor league campaign last season has absolutely buckled our transfer window. We have our top players wanting out, and no top players want to come in.
However, we're trying to look at this more positively. If we can muster some patience (which I know is a swear word amongst football fans), then we can do this project right.
When the PIF took over, we weren't supposed to be getting Champions League football and competing for cups for about five years. It was meant to be a slow build, but Eddie Howe and his overachievers got us into the Champions League after one full season and then won a cup, getting all of our expectations sky high, and now we can't maintain those standards because of financial restrictions.
This reset is painful right now, but with the young talent we're bringing in, we're doing it right this time. It may be a couple of years of mediocrity, but it's building to something big. Hopefully. That's how I'm personally choosing to cope with this mess, anyway. Join me.
