Brian Madjo nets on delayed Aston Villa debut against PSG in Salzburg
Seventeen-year-old Brian Madjo scored his first Aston Villa goal 45 minutes into his debut against Paris Saint-Germain at the Red Bull Arena in Salzburg on Wednesday night after finally being cleared to play. His appearance followed a protracted registration battle which ended when the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld Villa’s appeal to register the striker.
Madjo had publicly marked his clearance on social media, posting “No distractions, I’m free,” after the CAS decision; John McGinn and Amadou Onana responded to the club’s announcement by posting “#freemadjo.” Unai Emery pushed for the £10m signing from Metz, with Madjo joining Villa on his 17th birthday after Emery asked chief scout Alberto Benito to review him in person, and the striker had made his Ligue 1 debut for Metz last August aged 16 and 217 days.
The 6ft 4in forward showed the physical attributes that attracted Villa staff, using strength and direct running to unsettle Paris Saint-Germain’s defence and make inroads against the pairing of Marquinhos and Willian Pacho. Tyrone Mings, who has faced Madjo in training, said: “He is a tough person to defend against. I think he is about 100kg – he is a big old boy. He has got a very high ceiling. He is very, very difficult to play against and I just hope that his goal fills him with confidence, and he can go on and contribute to the team.”
Madjo’s goal came after strong holdup play to hold off Pacho and then an emphatic volley at the back post that broke Patrick Kluivert’s 30-year record as the Super Cup’s youngest goalscorer. Around a minute earlier he had forced space by bulldozing Pacho to release Emi Buendía, and the match recalled a similar physical moment from the previous week against BG Pathum United when a defender failed to dislodge him as the ball squirted to the edge of the six-yard box following John McGinn’s hit off the crossbar.
Until CAS approved the registration, FIFA regulations had prevented Madjo from representing Villa by classifying the January transfer from Metz as that of an “international minor.” He was born in Enfield, raised in Luxembourg — for whom he has played in friendly matches — and is the son of Guy Madjo, who played for Plymouth and Shrewsbury.
Mings also highlighted the environment around Madjo, noting the value of watching established strikers: “I think the manager is big on what we do off the ball, probably more than what we do on the ball,” he said. “Ollie’s a great person to watch, because of his work-rate and what he brings to the team. He’s got Tammy [Abraham], too – that’s two very experienced strikers he has got in and around him. I’m sure he’ll learn a lot. I had a few chats with him in the last 24 hours [before the game] in terms of what he’s about to go into and the experience. He said he was nervous, of course. He’s 17 and it’s a huge game. But I did say: ‘You get an amazing opportunity as a striker to just have one good moment and it can change everything for you.’ I’m so glad that after missing a couple of chances, he got that goal. He’s a very humble lad.”
Madjo left to a standing ovation after 72 minutes having registered 27 touches and six shots, one of which produced the notable strike, and his pre-season return now stands at five goals; until Wednesday Chelsea’s João Pedro was the only Premier League player to outscore him in pre-season. Villa defender Matty Cash commented on his impact: “He’s a beast,” said Cash. “He’s so good – all pre-season he has put his body around and scored goals.”
Villa flew to Düsseldorf at midday on Thursday to prepare for a final friendly against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday, before beginning their league campaign at Brighton a week on Sunday, and Madjo will now aim to build on his tally of five goals.