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Published Jul 14, 2026, 4:40 PM GMT+1
Tom is a football journalist with five years of experience. He has been featured in the Non-League Paper, Crawley Observer, Sussex Express and The RedmenTV - producing features, news and conducting interviews.
For Football FanCast, Tom has sat down with a number of names from the industry, including Ally McCoist, Philippe Senderos and Chris Waddle. Elsewhere, he has covered the National League South final, the Formula E London Prix, Crawley Town and Brighton’s U21s.
Tom enjoys writing features about teams in the Football League and Premier League, whilst also receiving the opportunity to conduct interviews on behalf of FFC.
Having written for The RedmenTV, he is particularly an expert on all things Liverpool.
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Aston Villa's transfer window has come to life in the most dramatic fashion. Their move for Johan Manzambi came as an undeniable shock, especially for Newcastle United, but things quickly began to make sense when news emerged of Youri Tielemans' exit to Manchester United.
Losing the Belgian for just £35m after the Red Devils triggered his release clause, Villa are now out for revenge and have set their sights on hijacking United's move for AS Roma's Manu Kone.
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Even after Tielemans and Manzambi respectively, Man United and Aston Villa are still after one more midfield reinforcement. Kone isn't exactly a bad option to turn to, either. He's enjoyed an excellent World Cup with France and the fact that Roma need to sell if they want to comply with FFP rules in Italy means that their star is likely to move on for the right price. |
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Roma are standing firm on their €60m (£51m) asking price and are even waiting to see if that increases if France win the World Cup this summer. It's a blow for Aston Villa and Man United, but it's not stopped both clubs from launching their approaches in recent weeks. |
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Kone has been one of the most complete midfielders at the World Cup. He's re-emerged on the biggest stage and reminded everyone exactly what he can offer both in and out of possession, winning 17 duels and maintaining a pass success of more than 92%. |
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Both Aston Villa and Man United will be expected to remain in the market even if they miss out on Kone, which means that there are still several other names to watch. |
Aston Villa have got instant revenge in mind and could complete their rapid-fire midfield reshuffle by landing Kone's signature.
Aston Villa launch Man Utd hijack to sign Kone
According to Corriere dello Sport, as relayed by Sport Witness, Aston Villa have now made an approach to sign Kone, attempting to hijack Man United's move for the Frenchman.
The Red Devils have already made contact, themselves, and reports are claiming that they're willing to pay around €50m (£43m) to sign the midfielder this summer.
As things stand, though, Roma are standing firm on their asking price - demanding as much as €60m (£51m) to part ways with Kone even amid their FFP issues.
Kone would be the perfect partner for Manzambi
In two moves, Aston Villa can hand Unai Emery an instant midfield rebuild.
Losing Tielemans is undoubtedly a blow, as if losing Amadou Onana to an ACL injury, but Manzambi and Kone would be the perfect partnership. The duo balance each other so well.
Whilst the former is more of a luxury player, unlocking defences with plenty of freedom, Kone provides the stability for those exact players to thrive, notably celebrated by Rio Ferdinand as "France's best midfielder at the World Cup". It's perfect for Villa.
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Minutes |
200 |
341 |
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Goals |
3 |
|
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Defensive contributions |
3 |
11 |
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Recoveries |
5 |
21 |
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Chances created |
3 |
3 |
There's still a long way to go before Villa complete their hijack, but Kone is undoubtedly one to watch.
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French (CA) ·