Credit: Imago

Max Wilkins

Fri 27 March 2026 14:10, UK

Aston Villa finally had the opportunity to see Brian Madjo in action against Elche on Friday.

The 17-year-old completed a Villa Park switch from Metz in January for a sizable fee in the region of £10million.

He has been unable to make his debut in a competitive fixture due to FIFA blocking the Villans from completing his registration.

That has limited the England under-17 international from featuring in training but no matches of any sort to this point.

Madjo finally got his chance in the Elche friendly and certainly showed Unai Emery what he can do when he does eventually get the green light.

Brian Madjo makes Aston Villa debut vs Elche

There is a reason that the ex-Luxembourg international was brought in by the Villans for such a sizable fee in the winter window.

The teenager had shown qualities in his Ligue 1 days that pointed towards him becoming a true asset in the Premier League.

He may not have scored a senior goal for the French side, but in his limited senior outings, he showed what he could do in B6.

His last appearance for Metz came against Marseille, where he maintained a 100 per cent aerial duel win rate against Benjamin Pavard and Nayef Aguerd.

Madjo hasn’t played a senior game since, but was afforded the chance for the first time for Villa against Elche and made an immediate impact.

Within minutes of coming on, he combined well with Ollie Watkins and so nearly poked an effort past goalkeeper Inaki Pena, but was unlucky in his efforts.

He showed plenty of pace, strength and the ability to get in behind despite his chances being limited as Emery rang the changes as various academy stars came in.

His showing represented something exciting for the claret and blue outfit, but Madjo faces a hugely complex situation at Aston Villa right now.

Why can’t Madjo play for Aston Villa yet?

Typically, you would expect an England youth international to join an English club and be able to play immediately.

That hasn’t been the case for Madjo as FIFA continues to block the Villans from completing his registration because he has joined from an overseas club.

The Athletic previously reported that Villa are frustrated with the length of the process to this point, having wanted to utilise the striker in their first team.

FIFA has turned down any request to register the teenager early, with Article 19 within their regulations blocking international transfers of under-18 players.

This is due to FIFA blocking Villa from completing his registration, despite Madjo being born in England, but having joined from an overseas club.

From Villa’s standpoint, there is frustration internally that the process to register the striker is taking so long, having wanted to get Madjo up to speed sooner.

Madjo did finally make an appearance in a Villa shirt in the Elche friendly, but it may prove to be the only showing he makes for a long time in B6.