Now that the World Cup is over, focus will return to the Premier League at Aston Villa, and supporters are no doubt excited at the boundless possibilities at the start of a new year with Unai Emery.
What’s the objective? Where to improve? Last year, the Villa finished fourth in the league and defeated Freiburg in the Europa League final, so bettering those results would be quite a feat, even for a manager of Emery’s ability.
After all, Morgan Rogers will join Chelsea in a £117m deal, tearing at the fabric of this title-winning project. It’s a big blow, and no mistake, but one that the Villans will be confident they can overcome.
A deal has already been completed for Johan Manzambi this month, with the 20-year-old midfielder emerging as an elite talent after an emphatic World Cup campaign with Switzerland.
Why Aston Villa have hit the jackpot on Manzambi
Manzambi is young, but he is already showing on the biggest platforms that he is a potential superstar, his efforts with Freiburg in the German Bundesliga leading talent scout Jacek Kulig to describe him as “one of the most exciting box-crashing midfielders in Europe“.
At the World Cup, Manzambi scored three goals and supplied two assists across four games (two starts), showing that he has that clutch ability that can prove so important for teams pushing for silverware.
At Freiburg, though, he has been more balanced, albeit just as explosive. Newcastle, who were hijacked at the eleventh hour by Emery and his transfer coterie, viewed him as an ideal No. 8 to replace Sandro Tonali.
Though Manzambi is not a ball-playing specialist of the same vein as, say, Youri Tielemans at Villa Park, he is a physical machine of a midfielder, someone who still completed 84% of their passes in the Bundesliga last year while winning 6.6 duels and recovering 4.1 balls on average each game.
All this said, Manzambi is not the same profile as Rogers. He is a box-to-box midfielder with the physicality and natural progressiveness on the ball to provide some relief as Rogers moves on.
Emery needs more if he is to challenge for bigger prizes at the Aston Villa helm across the coming campaign.
Aston Villa “calling” to sign World Cup star
Manzambi is a big talent, and he will continue to go from strength to strength at Aston Villa, but as asserted, he is not the like-for-like Rogers replacement that NSWE need to make.
However, Villa could take a significant step in the right direction there by signing Crysencio Summerville from West Ham United, with transfer guru Fabrizio Romano confirming that Emery and co have been on the phone to relegated West Ham this summer, hoping to hijacked a deal for his signature.
The race is hotting up, and Summerville would cost something in the region of £39m this summer, with Roma already seeing an offer to that tune knocked back, but he would be worth paying for, having been one of the brightest sparks in east London last year.
Roma have sent a bid for Crysencio Summerville. Aston Villa are calling as well. Roma are working hard to close the deal. Why are Manchester United not advancing? Because Summerville was one of the options on the list at United only if and when Marcus Rashford leaves. At the moment, that’s not the case.
With Roma having already lodged an official bid to sign the 24-year-old winger, the Villans are going to need to act quickly, should they hope to secure his signature. If the Rashford situation develops at Old Trafford, moreover, United may quickly pounce on the West Ham man.
Summerville only scored five goals across 31 matches in the Premier League last season, but the underlying data emphasises just how talented the Dutchman is, and indeed, why a number of Champions League teams want to sign him.
He ranked inside the top 20% of positional peers in the Premier League last year for duels won and dribbles completed per 90, his fleet-footed running seeing him draw fouls by the dozen.
In that, he shares physicality and technical attributes than Manzambi also brings to the table, but with a more front-footed approach. The pair of them could be world-beaters next year, but Summerville’s Premier League experience could see him make a bigger impact next year.
Aston Villa have emerged as masterful operators in the transfer market over the past several years, and it’s hard to see them bucking that trend by signing Summerville.
He might just be an even bigger talent than Manzambi, but in truth, the thought of both players combining under Emery’s wing next year is an incredible thought.
