Manzambi's debut waits again as Villa win 3-2 at Brugge

Johan Manzambi is still waiting to play a competitive match for Aston Villa. The midfielder's knee injury, sustained with Switzerland at the 2026 World Cup, kept him out of Tuesday's 3-2 win at Club Brugge, and Saturday's Premier League meeting with Nottingham Forest is the date he has been working towards.

Villa did not look short without him in Belgium. John McGinn opened the scoring at the Jan Breydel Stadium in the 11th minute, and although Hugo Vetlesen levelled, Emiliano Buendia and Nicolas Jackson had the visitors 3-1 up by the interval. Nicolo Tresoldi's 61st-minute penalty made the closing half-hour uncomfortable without changing the result.

A Debut That Keeps Moving

Manzambi arrived in the summer and has not yet appeared. He was listed as a major doubt for the Brugge tie, with 12 September pencilled in as his return, and the confirmed team sheet bore that out: Zion Suzuki started in goal behind a side captained by McGinn, with no place for the Swiss.

Unai Emery had already signalled patience rather than a date. He ruled Manzambi out of Saturday's goalless draw at Hull and pointed instead to the Champions League opener or the Forest fixture as the realistic markers. The first of those has now passed.

Onana Out Since July

Amadou Onana's absence is the longer one. He ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament playing for Belgium against the United States at the World Cup in July, and has not featured since.

Return projections vary by outlet rather than by club bulletin. Early estimates put him at seven to eight months, which would point to February; injury trackers have since moved to late April. Villa have published no target date, and neither figure should be read as one. Separately, the French outlet Foot Mercato reports that the club intends to extend his contract by two years beyond its June 2029 expiry. Villa have not announced it.

Available in Europe, Banned at Home

Joao Gomes started at the Jan Breydel, which he could not have done three days earlier. He was sent off on his Villa debut against Brighton and is serving the domestic suspension that followed — a ban that does not carry into UEFA competition, so his European availability currently exceeds his domestic one.

Brian Madjo remains out with an ankle problem, with 19 September attached to his return. That leaves Emery with a first-choice midfield he has still not been able to field, in a season where the fixtures have not waited for it.

What Saturday Looks Like

Villa meet Forest with a European win behind them and the same questions in front of them. Manzambi is the one genuine upgrade in reach this week; the rest of the list runs into late September and beyond. If the 12 September marker holds, Saturday is the first chance to see what Villa actually bought.

• OUT — Amadou Onana (ruptured anterior cruciate ligament; no club return date)
• OUT — Brian Madjo (ankle; 19 September)
• DOUBTFUL — Johan Manzambi (knee; targeting 12 September)
• UNAVAILABLE DOMESTICALLY — Joao Gomes (suspension; available in UEFA competition)

Photo: Villa Park, Birmingham — file photo, August 2023. Arne Mueseler / www.arne-mueseler.com, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, via Wikimedia Commons.