Brian Madjo, the 17-year-old striker compared to Romelu Lukaku, scored a predatory leveller for Aston Villa in a 4-2 friendly defeat to Real Sociedad on Tuesday — a performance that offered a glimpse into the club’s future even as Unai Emery’s perfectionist side stewed over the loss.
Madjo, who joined from Metz for £10m in January but cannot play competitive games until Villa’s appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport is resolved, pulled Villa level at 2-2 after 56 minutes with a simple finish that showcased his instinct. At 6ft 4in, he was a handful for Sociedad’s defenders, using strength and power to unsettle them while Ollie Watkins remains on a break after England’s World Cup campaign and Tammy Abraham returns from a shoulder issue.
“Teenager Brian Madjo scores as Aston Villa lose 4-2 to Real Sociedad in pre-season friendly.”
The defeat will irritate Emery, who spent large parts of the first half talking to himself and the bench, hands on hips or arms flailing, as he tried to get Madjo and 19-year-old midfielder George Hemmings to follow instructions to pull wider. Hemmings also scored for Villa, alongside Modou Cisse, who, like Madjo and Hemmings, is likely to feature in the squad going forward.
Villa are still awaiting the outcome of their CAS appeal to register Madjo, an England Under-17 international born in London but capped three times for Luxembourg. Under-18s cannot complete international transfers, and while Fifa allows exemptions for 16 or 17-year-olds moving within the European Union, the UK is no longer part of it. The tantalising prospect remains of Madjo being unleashed in the Premier League in the new year, or earlier if Villa get their way.
Emery’s trusted lieutenants — Matty Cash, Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendia — started against Sociedad, but many others from Villa’s World Cup cohort were missing. The club has also been busy in the transfer market, selling Morgan Rogers to Chelsea for a British record £117m and bringing in Alejandro Garnacho and João Gomes, while Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson remains a top striker target.
Villa began their summer preparations with a 5-0 win over Walsall before losing 2-1 to Porto, and now head to Asia for the next leg of their pre-season tour. For Emery, the Europa League holders still have plenty of time to fine-tune before the new campaign — and in Madjo, they have a teenage talent he can refine quietly before the spotlight arrives.