How much it will cost for Aston Villa to sign their new Morgan Rogers

Aston Villa are set for change in the middle of the park as one of their star players is on his way out of the club, whilst an exciting talent is on his way to Villa Park.

Youri Tielemans, thanks to a release clause in his contract, is closing in on a deal to sign for Premier League rivals Manchester United, ending a three-year stay with the Villans.

Unai Emery‘s side, though, already have a deal in place with Freiburg to sign central midfielder Johan Manzambi, pipping Newcastle United to his signature.

The Switzerland international could be considered to be a direct replacement for the Belgian star, taking his place in midfield at Villa Park next season.

Why Johan Manzambi is perfect for Aston Villa’s forward line

The likes of Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers, John McGinn, and Emiliano Buendia will love to play alongside Manzambi if the club can get this deal over the line in the coming days.

Whilst losing Tielemans is set to be a blow, as he provided four assists in the Premier League term, the Swiss star could arrive as an even better attacking force for the club.

Their respective performances at the World Cup for Belgium and Switzerland suggest that Manzambi would offer more to the team a scorer and a creator of goals, whilst also being more mobile with the ball at his feet as a dribbler.

That is further backed up by the 20-year-old talent’s form in the Bundesliga in the 2025/26 campaign, as he recorded five goals, six ‘big chances’ created, and four assists.

Manzambi also averaged 1.2 successful dribbles per match in the German top-flight, completing 52% of his attempted dribbles, whilst Tielemans averaged 0.4 dribbles per game in the Premier League.

Aston Villa’s attacking players may love Manzambi even more than Tielemans because he can carry the ball forward before releasing it to them in dangerous positions, rather than having to drop deeper to get the ball off the Belgian.

After Manzambi: Aston Villa could sign their new Rogers

One of the players who would enjoy playing alongside the Switzerland international has not even been signed yet, but he could join later in the window.

Football Insider reports that Aston Villa are interested in a deal to sign RB Leipzig forward Antonio Nusa, who was knocked out of the World Cup by England on Saturday.

The outlet claims that the German side are not keen on losing one of their star forwards, though, and will only accept bids of £50m or more for the attacker.

That means that the Villans, who are joined by Newcastle in their interest in the winger, could see an offer of £50m accepted for Nusa if they decide to formalise their interest with a bid for him in the coming weeks.

On paper, £50m is a lot of money to pay for a player who registered four goals and three assists in the Bundesliga for Leipzig next season, but similar things were said when Villa splashed a fee of up to £16m to sign Morgan Rogers from Middlesbrough.

The English playmaker produced two goals and six assists in 26 matches for Boro in the Championship in the first half of the 2023/24 campaign before his move to Villa, yet Emery had faith in his potential.

Rogers has, of course, gone on to score 26 goals and provide 24 assists in all competitions in the past two seasons for the Villans in all competitions, delivering consistent quality after developing under the Spanish boss.

Nusa has yet to show consistent quality in the final third at senior club level, but the 21-year-old talent does have an impressive record for Norway in international football.

The left-sided attacker has racked up nine goals and nine assists in 30 caps for his country, which shows that the potential and quality is there for him to be a Rogers-esque talent who can provide goals and assists at an impressive rate.

Emery’s challenge, though, will be working with him to display that level of consistency at the top end of the pitch in the Premier League for Villa, as he successfully managed to do with Rogers.

£50m for Nusa may look steep, now, but if he can flourish at Villa, potentially with the help of Manzambi consistently feeding him the ball in dangerous areas, then it could look like a bargain in the future.