Johan Manzambi left Switzerland's camp on Thursday and is heading back to Aston Villa with a calf problem, the Swiss federation announced. The 21-year-old is the fourth player Murat Yakin has lost this window, and the timing puts him nine days from Villa's first game after the break, against a Sunderland side whose captain, Granit Xhaka, is one of the other three.
He arrived hurt
"The midfielder had already entered the Nati camp on Monday with calf complaints," the federation said. "Despite intensive medical care and further clarifications, his condition has not improved sufficiently, so that a deployment in the two games is not possible." He returns to Villa in agreement with the club, and Yakin won't call up a replacement, leaving Switzerland with 26 players.
Manzambi was taken off in the 78th minute of Villa's 4-4 draw with Manchester United on Sunday, minutes after Leny Yoro caught him on the foot. Swiss federation media chief Adrian Arnold said on Monday that the calf pain did not come from that challenge, according to Blick.
Yakin's growing list
Xhaka never made it to camp because of a calf injury picked up with Sunderland, and Hamburg's Miro Muheim pulled out with a muscle problem. Uncapped FC Zürich goalkeeper Silas Huber then left on Tuesday with a concussion after being hit in the face by a ball in training. Switzerland play Slovenia in Maribor on Friday and Scotland in St. Gallen on Monday without all four.
It's a real loss for the national team. Manzambi has four goals and two assists for Switzerland this year, and he already missed their World Cup round-of-16 and quarterfinal games with a knee contusion.
For Villa, the question is whether the time off helps. Manzambi, signed from Freiburg in a deal worth up to £59.5 million, has three goals and three assists in eight starts across the Premier League and Champions League, and Unai Emery's side return against Sunderland on November 21.
