Man Utd’s ‘little Messi’, Liverpool’s 16-year-old sensation and 10 teenage wonderkids to watch as Premier League clubs kick-off pre-season friendlies
It went a little under the radar in the UK, but during the opening weeks of last season, there was a 16-year-old English striker starting games in the French top-flight. That teenager was Brian Madjo, who made five appearances for Metz in Ligue 1 before being snapped up by Aston Villa for £10 million in January.
Madjo, however, has been forced to watch from the sidelines ever since after FIFA blocked his registration. The striker, who turned 17 shortly before his move to Villa Park, earned three senior caps for Luxembourg before switching allegiance to England, the land of his birth. However, those international appearances, in FIFA’s eyes, mark Madjo out as a foreign player who cannot be transferred outside of his ‘home nation’ until his 18th birthday.
Villa have taken FIFA to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in a bid to have that decision overturned, but in the meantime, Madjo is able to play in friendlies, and showed no signs of rustiness as he scored twice against Walsall in the Europa League winners’ first pre-season outing.
Physically imposing at 6’4″, Madjo has drawn comparisons to Romelu Lukaku in the past, and is regarded as one of the top striker prospects within the English ranks. It remains to be seen whether he will be available for the first half of Villa’s season, but he can still use this summer to show Unai Emery exactly what he can offer, regardless of when he is able to finally make his competitive debut.
