Aston Villa Win Brian Madjo Appeal
Aston Villa have won their Court of Arbitration for Sport appeal over the registration of Brian Madjo, clearing the teenage forward to play competitive football for the club this season.
Madjo signed from Metz in January for a reported £10m fee, but FIFA blocked his registration under Article 19 of its regulations, which restricts international transfers involving players under 18. Born in Enfield and a UK citizen, he left England as a child and was raised in Luxembourg — enough, in FIFA’s reading, to count as exactly the kind of cross-border move of a minor the rule exists to stop.
Villa took the case to CAS, with a hearing held on 1 July. Today’s ruling means Madjo can be registered immediately, rather than waiting until he turns 18 in January.
He has not been short of chances to make his case in the meantime. Madjo was already training with the first-team squad by the back end of last season, well before he was legally able to play for it, and has carried that into pre-season with four goals so far, including two in the opening friendly against Walsall.
His registration adds a forward to the squad without adding a pound to this season’s spending and will save Villa needing to get anyone else in, unless there is an outgoing striker. So, all good in terms of UEFA’s Squad Cost Ratio rule.
Emery is understood to rate him highly, and his physical profile at an early age is akin to Wesley and Jhon Durán’s early physical development. Although, Villa fans will hope he becomes more of a Didier Drogba like figure, with who he has been compared to.
Last size availability
The timing could hardly suit Villa better. Tammy Abraham is still working his way back from shoulder surgery, and Ollie Watkins is not due back from Villa’s Asian tour until a matter of days (estimate August 8) before the Super Cup on 12 August. An in-form forward suddenly available for selection, at the exact moment Villa are short of them, is a rare availability positive for Emery this preseason.
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