Jeff Stelling not having 'grossly unfair' Brian Madjo narrative already at Aston Villa

Brian Madjo has the world at his feet after his early exploits for Aston Villa, but Jeff Stelling has sounded a warning.

The 17-year-old scored for Aston Villa in Wednesday night's UEFA Super Cup loss to Paris Saint-Germain.

Unai Emery's side may have tasted defeat in their first competitive outing of 2026-27, but there is no shame in losing to the best team in Europe.

Goals from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Desire Doue, either side of Madjo's 45th-minute leveller, ultimately earned PSG the win.

Madjo squandered further chances, but it was another impressive showing from the extremely talented youngster.

However, some of the narrative around Madjo after the game did not go down all that well with broadcaster Stelling.

Why Jeff Stelling believes Brian Madjo comments are unfair

Madjo was hailed by Stan Collymore and Ally McCoist for his performance against PSG.

The England Under-17s international scored once in Salzburg, but he also missed three big chances.

The five shots he registered were the most of any player on the field, albeit just one of those - his goal - was on target.

He also recorded two key passes - a tally only John McGinn (four) could better among Villa players on the day.

While it is true Madjo could have had more, his all-round play was brilliant and he showed he can be a serious threat against the world's best.

That led to talk from Andy Townsend on talkSPORT that Madjo may already be in England boss Thomas Tuchel's thoughts.

"I was looking at him thinking, 'I wonder what Tuchel's thinking looking at that'," Townsend said after Wednesday's match.

"Every now and again, when young players come along who are different and have something others may not handle, do you wait two years, three years?

"Or do you get them going as soon as you can? The first serious platform [Emery] gave him tonight, he absolutely blitzed it. He was brilliant in the first half. The Villa fans will love him. They'll adore him."

Townsend was not alone with those views, but Stelling believes it is unfair to put that sort of pressure on the teenager already.

"It's so grossly unfair," Stelling said on Thursday's Breakfast show with Gabby Agbonlahor.

But the man alongside him, Agbonlahor, did not help with the hype.

Gabby Agbonlahor shares who Madjo already reminds him of

Madjo did not score or assist in five Ligue 1 outings for Metz last season, but there is no shame in that given his age.

The young talent is already way ahead of where he should be in terms of his development.

He registered just 0.6 shots per game last time out, but throughout pre-season with Villa he has showed he is not score to take things on.

Madjo is about more than just goals, too, as he can bring others into the game.

That led to Agbonlahor saying on talkSPORT: "He reminds me of a young Romelu Lukaku."

The comparisons have been made and the hype will continue, even if some don't like it.

Villa really do have a star-in-the-making on their hands in Madjo.