Aston Villa's 17-year-old striker Brian Madjo marked his long-awaited first appearance for the club with a confident display and a goal in a pre-season defeat to Paris St-Germain, capping an eight-month saga to get him registered to play.
Madjo, who stands at 6ft 4in, joined Villa from Metz in a £10m deal, but the club faced significant hurdles registering him due to regulations preventing Under-18 players from completing international transfers. Villa argued for an exemption on the grounds that Madjo was born in London, despite the forward having earned three caps for Luxembourg at senior level in friendly matches. FIFA does permit certain exemptions for young players moving within the European Union, but that no longer applies to transfers involving the United Kingdom following Brexit.
The impasse was only resolved eight days before the PSG friendly, after Villa escalated the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in July. Madjo was a late addition to the travelling squad for the match at the Red Bull Arena in Salzburg, having initially been left out.
With first-choice striker Ollie Watkins rested following his involvement in the World Cup and Tammy Abraham named among the substitutes, head coach Unai Emery handed Madjo the responsibility of leading the line. The teenager, who scored four goals during pre-season, wasted little time making an impression, heading a free chance narrowly over the bar and firing another effort wide before finding the net.
His goal came when he held off PSG captain Marquinhos and Ecuador international Willian Pacho to volley home John McGinn's cross, cancelling out Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's opener for the French champions. PSG went on to win the match thanks to a second-half strike from Desire Doue, confirmed after a VAR review.
Emery praised the youngster's overall contribution rather than focusing solely on his attacking output.