How Villa's record signing Manzambi can spearhead new era

Johan Manzambi has scored six goals in 16 games for Switzerland - including three at the World Cup

It is a new era for Aston Villa - and Johan Manzambi will be one of the poster boys.

After ending a 30-year wait for a trophy with May’s Europa League triumph, Villa have broken their transfer record to sign the Switzerland midfielder in a deal worth more than £50m from Freiburg.

Newcastle were close to signing Manzambi last week only for Villa to step in and snatch him.

With Youri Tielemans joining Manchester United for £35m and Amadou Onana out with a knee injury until next year, Villa needed to bolster their midfield options.

They are also due to seal a £38m move for Wolves’ Joao Gomes - but it is 20-year-old Manzambi who represents the start of something different at Villa Park.

While Newcastle were hopeful of landing one of their top targets, their interest was always laced with caution.

Those close to the Magpies were surprised at why the confidence was not absolute - but after losing out to Liverpool for Víctor Munoz, having also seen Hugo Ekitike go to Anfield last year, Newcastle were nervous.

Their fears proved well founded as Manzambi wavered and Villa pounced.

He was being coveted by more than half of the Premier League and represents the start of a Villa refresh.

Manzambi had been on Villa’s watchlist since the start of last season, and there was always an expectation he would move this summer.

It is believed that Manzambi’s knee injury, which ruled him out of Switzerland’s last-16 win over Colombia and quarter-final defeat by Argentina at the World Cup, gave him time to decide his future amid Newcastle’s interest.

There is also an acceptance it was now or never for Villa as he could have been out of their price range if he moved elsewhere and succeeded, especially given the sharp rise at international level - playing just twice for Switzerland Under-21s before his senior elevation.

Having excelled in the Bundesliga and helped Freiburg to the Europa League final where they lost to Villa, the calculated risk to make him the club’s record signing is seen as one which is worth it.

His versatility - especially with Onana’s serious knee injury - makes him even more important.

Last term Manzambi - who won Europa League young player of the season - ranked first for 10-plus metre progressive carries (116) in the Bundesliga, shot-ending carries (13) and fouls won (78) as opponents tried to stop him.

He was the most fouled player in the Bundesliga and only Yan Diomande, Bazoumana Toure and Can Uzun were younger with more goals and assists in the division.

He was second for total take-ons (71), opposition half take-ons (52) and total carry progress (2,476 metres).

Last term Tielemans averaged 10 metres for his progressive carries with a total of 109, with Onana making just 75, while just three of Tielemans’ carries ended with a shot.

This was always going to be a vital summer for Villa.

After winning the Europa League and finishing fourth in the Premier League - securing Champions League football for the second time in three years - they should be in a position of strength.

Instead, Villa must trade to ensure they are compliant with the financial rules they feel have held them back.

In May they were fined 22.5m euros (£19.4m) by Uefa for a “significant breach” of its squad-cost rules for 2025 - although £12.9m is suspended.

Villa also face a restriction on the registration of new players on their squad list for the Champions League next season.

Their financial burden could be further eased by the sale of England’s Morgan Rogers, who is valued at more than £100m amid interest from champions Arsenal.

Villa will be able to sell but the financial rules make replacing their first-team stars harder.

They had the second-oldest squad in the Premier League last season and wanted to lower the overall age. It was one of the key objectives for president of football operations Roberto Olabe when he replaced Monchi last September.

Tielemans is 29 and moves to Old Trafford for pure profit after his free transfer from Leicester in 2023 while Lucas Digne, who turns 33 next week, is expected to return to Paris St-Germain.

The pair were two of Villa’s higher earners - and wages for loanees Douglas Luiz, Harvey Elliott and Jadon Sancho are also off the books.

Youri Tielemans scored Aston Villa’s opener in their Europa League final win over Freiburg

Evann Guessand and Leon Bailey are expected to leave and Lewis Dobbin has joined Southampton for £9m without making an appearance for the club.

That makes it easier to spend the money on Manzambi and Gomes but Villa must still walk a financial tightrope.

Emery has relied on trusted lieutenants but needs to refresh the squad, with at least one winger, two defenders and a striker wanted.

Of those at the club who started the Europa League final in May only Pau Torres, Rogers and Victor Lindelof were signed by Emery in his transformative three and a half years in charge.

There was the expectation the squad would evolve this summer - and players were braced for change - but while an extra midfield body would have been useful, Villa were not actively seeking big upheaval in the area.

Onana’s ACL injury while playing for Belgium against the USA this month shifted the plans and Tielemans’ departure accelerated them.

Villa wanted more physicality at left-back so the interest in AC Milan’s Pervis Estupinan is obvious especially when he knows Emery’s methods having played under him at Villarreal.

Emery cannot afford to wait for new recruits to get up to speed.

With a first trophy for three decades in the cabinet Villa have made the breakthrough - but they must still tread lightly.

'Similar to Courtois' - could Penders become Chelsea number one?

Mike Penders was part of Chelsea’s Club World Cup-winning squad, but didn’t play in the United States

Chelsea’s newest goalkeeping prospect, Mike Penders, comes from the same production line that produced the legendary Thibaut Courtois.

Like Courtois, Chelsea signed Penders from Belgian top-flight club Genk as a teenager.

A deal for the then-19-year-old was agreed in 2024 and he officially joined the following summer, before spending a season on loan with Strasbourg.

Genk’s goalkeeper coach at the time, Gilbert Roex, told BBC Sport “we thought it was crazy” that Chelsea paid £17m for Penders, who had not yet played for their first team.

However, Roex also praised Chelsea for scouting his youth appearances, influenced by head of goalkeeping Ben Roberts, adding: “He was still playing for Jong Genk in the second division when Chelsea’s scouts became convinced.

“It was similar to Courtois. He had only spent one season in the first team when he won the title and was still only 18. Maybe Chelsea’s video scouts have identified a player who could be worth much more in the future.”

Indeed, this summer Penders trained with the long-time Belgium number one at the World Cup and those close to Courtois told BBC Sport that the 115-cap goalkeeper was very impressed with his understudy as both a player and a person.

For now, Chelsea’s plan is to keep Robert Sanchez as their number one option while under serious competition from Penders.

It’s a similar dynamic that played out when Filip Jorgensen challenged the Spain international, but he has not been able to unseat him as a regular starter despite spells in the first team and is now seeking his exit.

Penders is effectively drafted in to replace Jorgensen with a third option also being sought either internally or in the transfer market, as one-time United States international Gabriel Slonina trials with partner club Strasbourg.

It’s Strasbourg where Penders made a name for himself on loan and leaves a gap for the French club - under the same American ownership as Chelsea - to fill.

At Genk, Penders made 26 appearances in his final season knowing he would join Chelsea, where he featured as an unused substitute at the Club World Cup, before joining Strasbourg in Ligue 1.

There he played almost every game during a demanding 52-match season that included runs to the semi-finals of both the Coupe de France and the Conference League.

It was there that Penders stood out under former Strasbourg manager Liam Rosenior, who employed an extreme tactical approach before later joining Chelsea.

Among goalkeepers in Europe’s top five leagues, no one had a higher average position from goal, underlining Penders’ importance in Strasbourg’s build-up play and how frequently he operated outside his penalty area.

The approach produced some impressive football but also, on occasion, some high-profile mistakes.

It’s remarkable that Penders has become a specialist with his feet given it used to be his weakness.

When Genk first scouted Penders from Sint-Jan Berchmans College, alongside his games for grassroots club Bregel Sport, his ability on the ball was his Achilles’ heel.

“One of the teachers recommended him to me,” Roex, who recently left Genk, added. “When I saw him, he had a great profile, he played well and he had a great mentality. But technically, he needed a lot of work.

“At that time, his feet were terrible because he was so tall. But he passed the trial for our under-14s when he was 13.”

Roex says he has “never seen a player improve so quickly between the ages of 13 and 18” because of Penders’ “unbelievable mentality” and his “inability to feel pressure” - qualities he insists remain evident today.

He added: “In the beginning he struggled a lot, but he worked very hard. We did footwork for at least 20 minutes in every session with our goalkeepers.

“He reads the game very well, which is essential because playing out from the back is not just about technique, but decision-making - understanding space, pressure and timing.”

Nearly 20 years after helping develop the 6ft 7in Courtois along with fellow Genk goalkeeping coach Guy Martens, Roex said that Penders - who is the same height as Courtois - bears similarities to the former Chelsea goalkeeper, now a Real Madrid and Belgium great.

“Guy and I shared the same vision,” Roex explained. “We believed football was changing and that goalkeepers needed to be comfortable with their feet. We implemented that philosophy throughout the academy, although there was initially some resistance from coaches.

“Part of our vision came from Ajax and Johan Cruyff’s goalkeeping coach, Frans Hoek. He was a visionary who later worked with Barcelona and the Dutch national team.

“We were also early adopters of filming goalkeeping sessions, using tapes and simple editing software. We wanted to expose goalkeepers as young as 16 to the first-team environment.

“We produced Courtois and Penders, but also Koen Casteels, Martin van der Voordt at RB Leipzig, Kiaba Brughmans and Nordin Jackers, who is now at Club Brugge.”

Roex believes Penders’ calm demeanour comes from his close, stable family unit and having grown up in the small village of Maasmechelen just outside of Genk.

“We have produced a lot of great goalkeepers, but Mike is the one with the potential to reach the same level as Thibaut, his sense of calmness is gold in goalkeeping.”

Cologne sign Heskey from Man City

Bundesliga side Cologne have signed forward Reigan Heskey from Manchester City for a deal worth up to £8m.

The 18-year-old, who is the son of ex-England striker Emile, made his senior debut for City in the Carabao Cup last season.

He also scored the winning goal in the final to help City win the FA Youth Cup with victory over rivals Manchester United.

Sources say the move will allow Heskey to develop by playing first-team football in one of the top five leagues in Europe.

The deal includes sell-on and buy-back clauses for City, as well as matching rights should another club make a bid for Heskey in the future.

Heskey becomes the second City player to join Cologne this summer after centre-back Jahmai Simpson-Pusey made a permanent move last month.

Defender Esteve leaves Burnley to join RB Leipzig

Former France Under-21s defender Maxime Esteve has left Burnley to join Bundesliga club RB Leipzig.

Burnley have agreed a reported fee of £27.3m for Esteve, two years after they paid Montpellier £10.2m to make his loan permanent.

Esteve, 24, was a big success at Turf Moor and key to their 2024-25 Championship-winning campaign under Scott Parker, playing all 46 league games.

The 6ft 4in centre-half initially joined Burnley on loan on transfer deadline day on 1 February 2024, under then manager Vincent Kompany, and made 100 appearances for the Clarets.

Burnley rewarded him for his progress with a five-year deal 12 months ago, but following their third relegation in five years from the Premier League, Esteve heads to a team who finished third in the German top flight last season.

Halifax sign forward Morgan-Smith

Halifax Town have signed forward Amari Morgan-Smith on a one-year contract.

Morgan-Smith, 37, has just ended a five-year spell with Kidderminster Harriers where he scored more than 50 goals and won two promotions.