{"id":252736,"date":"2026-07-13T11:10:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T11:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/13\/approach-made-newcastle-already-in-contact-to-sign-manzambi-alternative\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T11:10:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T11:10:12","slug":"approach-made-newcastle-already-in-contact-to-sign-manzambi-alternative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/13\/approach-made-newcastle-already-in-contact-to-sign-manzambi-alternative\/","title":{"rendered":"Approach made: Newcastle already in contact to sign Manzambi alternative"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Most people dislike the summer because of the wasps and sunburn that come with it. Newcastle United<\/a>, however, are beginning to despise it because of their failure to get their transfer targets over the line.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In the last 12 months, the Magpies have gone from pole position to a DNF in several transfer races. They’ve missed out on Hugo Ekitike, Victor Munoz, Benjamin Sesko and now look destined to miss out on Johan Manzambi<\/a>, who has picked Aston Villa.<\/p>\n

It’s forced them back to the drawing board once again, where they’ve now identified Parma’s Mandela Keita.<\/p>\n

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Football FanCast’s Verdict<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n

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Credibility<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/th>\n

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With Sandro Tonali gone and Bruno Guimaraes keen to head for the exit door himself, Newcastle are in a desperate position that Keita could drag them out of. The Parma midfielder will come far cheaper than Manzambi and already has an enquiry from St James’ Park.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Finances<\/p>\n<\/th>\n

\n

Parma reportedly value their midfielder at just \u20ac25m (\u00a321m) this summer. Even with cash to burn, that’s good news for Newcastle and their budget. Whether that price sticks amid growing Premier League interest remains to be seen, however.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Insight<\/p>\n<\/th>\n

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The 24-year-old is an impressive box-to-box midfielder and particularly excelled out of possession last season, with only 11 midfielders making more recoveries than his 153 last time out.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Impact<\/p>\n<\/th>\n

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Leeds United and Everton have also been credited with interest in Keita and that could be a problem for Newcastle once again. Alas, their desperation could reach a point that they simply go all out for their next target like they did for Nick Woltemade late last summer.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

It looks like Keita is the next name on Newcastle’s midfield shortlist, as they scramble to find their replacement for Tonali.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n Newcastle in talks to sign Mandela Keita<\/strong>
\n <\/h2>\n

According to Parma Today, as relayed by Sport Witness, Newcastle are in talks to sign Keita<\/a> from Parma this summer. The Magpies have made enquiries over signing the midfielder.<\/p>\n

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\n \n <\/picture>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

The 24-year-old is valued at just \u20ac25m (\u00a321m) in Italy and that’s certainly affordable at St James’ Park following the \u00a3100m sale of Tonali and the \u00a369m sale of Anthony Gordon.<\/p>\n

Competition from Everton and Leeds could yet complicate things and leave Newcastle stuck in a Groundhog Day of rejection, but they should go all out as soon as possible to finally land a midfield star.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n Newcastle must not miss out on another midfielder<\/strong>
\n <\/h2>\n

At this stage, Newcastle are simply completing the scouting job for other clubs to swoop in. It has been nothing short of a disaster in the last 12 months and something has to change – starting with Keita.<\/p>\n

After watching Manzambi go from Tyneside-bound to choosing Aston Villa over St James’ Park, Keita should become their priority signing in the middle of the park.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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25\/26<\/p>\n<\/th>\n

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Keita<\/p>\n<\/th>\n

\n

Manzambi<\/p>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n

\n

Minutes<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

2,991<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

2,094<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Tackles<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

74<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

35<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Recoveries<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

154<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

110<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Chances created<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

11<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

20<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Duel success<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

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62.4%<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

58.9%<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

Dubbed “brilliant” by scout Antonio Mango<\/a>, Keita is a far more secure option out of possession than Manzambi, who is more attack-minded. After losing Tonali, it is the former that Newcastle arguably need more next season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most people dislike the summer because of the wasps and sunburn that come with it. Newcastle United, however, are beginning to despise it because of their failure to get their transfer targets over the line. In the last 12 months, the Magpies have gone from pole position to a DNF in several transfer races. They’ve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":252737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6808],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-252736","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}