A STAR/SUPERNOVA IS BORN
Aston Villa supporters could have been forgiven for approaching the new season with feelings of great anxiety, nagging angst and face-twitching trepidation. Youri Tielemans has gone: such an elegant player with an eye [and nose? – Football Daily Ed] for the spectacular. Morgan Rogers has also departed: so energetic and skilful, always carrying that goal threat. And goodbye to Lucas Digne. But Villa fans who have been keeping their eye trained behind the curtain may not have been quite so concerned. Earlier this month, their 17-year-old striker Brian Madjo – 6ft4in, body of iron ore – was cleared by the court of arbitration for sport to play competitive fixtures for the club. Born in London but already capped for Luxembourg, Villa and Fifa were in diagreed over whether Madjo, signed from Metz in January for £10m, qualified as a home purchase or an international transfer. If it was the latter, as a minor, he wouldn’t have been eligible until turning 18 next January. While waiting for the verdict, Madjo banged in four goals in pre-season friendlies, against Walsall, Real Sociedad and Indonesia All Stars, and upon finally being cleared for the big boys, could have scored as many again in 45 minutes against the best team in the world, Paris Saint-Germain.
Having become the youngest player ever to start in Uefa’s annual amuse-bouche, Madjo took a smidgen less than those 45 minutes against PSG to become the youngest to score in one. He’d already missed three gilt-edged chances by the time he bagged his goal, showcasing if nothing else an innate ability to turn up at the right place at the right time. When he finally converted, it was the hardest chance of all, roofing a volley from a tight angle on the left; all the while, he casually flung two-time European champion and Ecuador international Willian Pacho around like an old tattered sock. A bravura performance on debut, then, and the precursor to a tug-of-love between Luxembourg, for whom he’s only played friendlies, and England – the young man was born in Enfield but brought up in the Grand Duchy when his Cameroonian parents moved there (Cameroon have yet to throw their hat into the ring, but they’re surely tug-adjacent at the very least).
All of this comes with the usual supermassive-star-or-supernova caveats: there’s nothing to be gained from lumping expectation on young shoulders too soon. Remember how Andy Carroll appeared to have all the tools too … why aye. But there’s also no point in flat-out denying the increasing insurgence of youth in today’s game – Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal is one competent Bigger Cup campaign away from completing football, and he’s only 19 for goodness sake – so file Madjo (17) and his fellow Super Cup teammate George Hemmings (19) alongside Arsenal’s Max Dowman (16), Manchester United’s JJ Gabriel (15), Liverpool’s Rio Ngumoha (17) and Manchester City’s Ryan McAidoo (18) as some of the prospects to keep an avuncular eye on. We also hear Portugal are planning their Euro 2028 hopes around some lad at Al-Nassr; we’ll keep you updated once we’ve found out a bit more about him.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I don’t know what I’m going to do without you, I don’t know how to carry on. All I ever did was play football, and now I have a fair few doubts as to whether I’ll carry on doing it for much longer. You were by my side from the start, we were so close to the end [of my career]. Why didn’t you hang on just that little bit longer so we could finish it together?” – Lionel Messi ponders his future in football after the death of his father and agent, Jorge, at the age of 68. The Argentina superstar was persuaded to play at the World Cup by his father, whose health deteriorated in the days before the start of the tournament. On Wednesday, Messi made his first appearance for Inter Miami since Jorge’s funeral in a 3-2 defeat to Club León in the Leagues Cup.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
“May I be the first of 1,057 tiny violin players to offer no sympathy whatsoever to Bob Cushion” – Matt Scott (and 1,056 others).
“Roberto Martínez’s managerial career. Not so much a CV as a series of passport stamps” – Kev The Poet.
“I see from Big Website’s Chelsea preview that Jordan Henderson will be contributing a lot “off the pitch”. Presumably that will be from a bit further off the pitch than the advertising hoardings?” – Phil Taverner.
If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day is … Phil Taverner. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.
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