Aston Villa refuse to back down as court hearing set for July 1

Aston Villa are set to for a further legal battle, as they look to formally register Brian Madjo.

The 17-year-old signed from Metz in January in a deal worth £10million, but has been unable to feature.

After the deal was done, FIFA rejected his registration as he joined from an overseas club while under 18 - meaning that as of now, he cannot feature until January 2027.

The forward grew up in Luxembourg, but was born in England to Cameroonian parents.

Despite this, the Villans have been unable to register him.

After impressing in training with the first team, Villa are looking at legal approaches to begin getting him involved on matchday.

Aston Villa assess options amid Brian Madjo fiasco

There is frustration naturally surrounding the situation, with Villa wanting to get him up to speed.

The Midlanders have remained in the process of registering the youngster since March, after the initial FIFA rejection.

Now, as per the report from the Daily Mail on Friday, Villa are set to take the appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on 1 July.

Of course, the laws are the laws, but there does appear to be a complete lack of common sense from FIFA in the verdict, given his birthplace.

At 17, he is considered highly rated by Villa, hence the eagerness to get him involved with the first team as quickly as possible.

Should they win on appeal, he could be involved from the start of the season, otherwise both he and the club will have to continue waiting until the start of next year.

Madjo is the first in line in what should be new Aston Villa trend

While he cannot play for the time being, Madjo is part of an idea that should be the new focus at Villa Park.

Since his 2022 arrival, Unai Emery has made use of what is largely the same squad, while he has been somewhat hamstrung by a series of underwhelming transfer windows.

Moving forward, there has to be more of a focus on youth, with the current group not getting any younger.

Interest in Matias Soule potentially points in this direction, alongside the willingness to get Madjo involved.

Having lifted the Europa League last month, Villa are looking to make the next step - to do that, they will need the next generation.