​Aston Villa are working on a deal for Freiburg midfielder Johan Manzambi, as they attempt to hijack a move to Newcastle United.Newcastle had appeared to be in pole position to sign Manzambi in a deal worth in the region of £50m, but BBC Sport previously reported the club had been a little cautious given the interest from elsewhere.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThis is a painful case of deja vu.It was just a few weeks ago that Newcastle lost out on another top target, Victor Munoz, who opted to join Liverpool.Talent identification is clearly not the issue.Newcastle have targeted Manzambi, Munoz, Hugo Ekitike, Joao Pedro, Benjamin Sesko and James Trafford in the past 12 months.But losing another top target to Villa would be another real setback in the transfer market.If Newcastle miss out, the big question is: can the club discreetly pivot to another promising target, as they did with Bazoumana Toure after Munoz went elsewhere?On one hand, there is plenty of time left in the transfer window to do just that and strengthen other areas of the side.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOn the other hand, there is a lot of work to do and little margin for any further knockbacks.The sight of those players not involved at the World Cup returning for pre-season training on Monday was a timely reminder of that.