SC Freiburg have lost Johan Manzambi to Aston Villa for at least €60 million. The Swiss midfielder shatters the club’s transfer record and becomes the most expensive Swiss player in history. Freiburg now ranks seventh among German clubs for exits worth €60m or more.
What happened
Manzambi, who often played as a false nine and showed his scoring threat, breaks the previous SC Freiburg record with this move. Kevin Schade (24, Brentford) and Merlin Röhl (24, Everton) left for £25m each in 2023/24 and 2025/26. Manzambi tops them and becomes Aston Villa’s priciest signing ever, overtaking Amadou Onana, who arrived for around €59.4m from Everton in 2024/25.
The ex-Freiburger is also the most expensive Swiss player ever. He breaks Granit Xhaka’s ten-year-old record, set when Xhaka moved from Borussia Mönchengladbach to Arsenal for €45m in 2016. Villa also landed one of the five most valuable under-20 midfielders - his market value rose again in the July 22, 2026 World Cup update.
Newcastle had long looked set to sign Manzambi, but Aston Villa swooped at the last moment. A deal with the Magpies would also have totalled around €60m. The Villans’ Champions League spot may have tipped the scales: while Newcastle would only watch on TV, Villa qualified both via the league and as Europa League winners - beating Freiburg 3:0 in the final.
Manzambi joined Freiburg from Servette FC in January 2023 and made his Bundesliga debut in September 2024 at 18 years and eleven months. After a first season as a squad player, he became a regular last term, scoring seven goals and making nine assists in 47 appearances - a rise that pushed his market value from €8m to over €60m.
What it means for Freiburg
Freiburg lose a key player who made 47 appearances last season with seven goals and nine assists. The club now ranks seventh among German teams for exits worth €60m or more, alongside RB Leipzig, Eintracht Frankfurt, VfB Stuttgart, VfL Wolfsburg, Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund.
SC Freiburg currently sit seventh in the Bundesliga with zero points - League standing: 7th in Bundesliga, 0 pts. - and face FC Schalke 04 away on February 20, 2027 (16th in the table).
