Aston Villa

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Aston Villa striker Brian Madjo can handle the spotlight after his explosive debut, says team-mate Tyrone Mings.

The 17-year-old forward scored on his first appearance as Villa lost the Super Cup to Paris St-Germain 2-1 in Salzburg on Wednesday.

It ended an eight-month wait after Villa were barred from registering him by Fifa after signing him from Metz in January, and had to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport - which was only won last week.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Desire Doue struck to win it for PSG but it did not diminish Majdo's impact, who had waited 212 days to play competitively for the Midlands club.

"Clearly, mentally he is able to deal with setbacks. He missed a few chances and scored probably the hardest of them all," said England defender Mings.

"He's a fantastic guy. I think you could see the reaction of everybody when he scored. It shows just how much he deserved it and that we were willing him to do well. I am delighted for him.

"He said he was nervous, of course, he's 17 and it's a huge game. But I did say to him: 'You get an amazing opportunity as a striker to just have one good moment and it can change everything for you'.

"I'm so glad that, after missing a couple of chances, he got that goal. He's a very humble lad. I think everybody wishes him all the very best and hopefully he can contribute in a big way for us on the pitch."

After eight months in limbo, the outcome was worth the wait for Brian Madjo.

Aston Villa may have lost the Uefa Super Cup 2-1 to Paris St-Germain in Salzburg on Wednesday but the striker made an impressive impact after finally getting the chance to showcase his talent.

He was unleashed against PSG - and quickly repaid the faith shown by boss Unai Emery.

With Ollie Watkins rested after World Cup duty and Tammy Abraham left on the bench, the youngster was given the responsibility up front by Emery having scored four pre-season goals.

His strike at the Red Bull Arena, holding off Ecuador international Willian Pacho to volley in John McGinn's cross, was arguably the hardest chance of the trio he had in a first half full of promise.

"When you see a 17-year-old play the way he did on such a big stage, it's hugely impressive," said ex-Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha.

"If I was playing against him, I'd want to make it physical, try to knock him off his stride. But his composure was excellent. His understanding of where to be. He looks like he's ready to go to war against Willian Pacho. I loved how impactful he was in the game."

Madjo's goal cancelled out Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's opener for PSG, only for Desire Doue to hit a second-half winner after a video assistant referee (VAR) check.

Villa have been looking to sign a new striker - Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson has been a summer target - but Madjo's availability now gives Emery a different option and dilemma before the Premier League season opener at Brighton on 23 August.

"You've got a young player coming, especially on a stage like this one, against PSG, getting in those scoring positions and not allowing that disappointment to stay with you," former Villa striker Dion Dublin told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"I saw Brian Madjo, he had his hands on his head for a couple of seconds and then he got into another scoring position.

"He was brave enough to get back into that scoring position and if he keeps missing it's not frightening him. He's happy to have that pressure on his shoulders. I've been there, you need to be able to deal with it. At 17, he seems to be doing it easily."

Image source, Getty Images

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery speaking to TNT Sports after the Super Cup defeat to Paris St-Germain: "With a loss, you can never feel happy but how we competed, how the players responded on the field for 90 minutes and our chances to score, we must feel really very proud of what we have done today."

On Brian Madjo and George Hemmings: "Their experiences and having days like today are very important. They show how are they are learning after their hard work. This is the way, we decided before the game how we wanted to play this game, we have worked the players in these positions."

On Emiliano Martinez, Ezri Konsa and Ollie Watkins as the three didn't travel: "They are joining us after this match. We have our last friendly on Saturday.

"They are not going to be there but they will start training with us now. We wanted to give them four weeks holiday because the season was very demanding.

"We think it's better to work with players that are fit.

"Overall, we can feel proud of everything we've done. Some changes will be needed but we are confident."

More on Madjo: "He played because he was showing us his capacity to work and be demanding. It is not just about scoring goals, it's about defending and how he has the commitment and discipline tactically. He was doing that.

"I wanted to play with young players and watch their progression. Brian started scoring goals [in pre-season] against Walsall and Real Sociedad.

"Now the reality is we have shown their capacity, but they have to keep being consistent, demanding and keep performing at the level they were."

Did you know?

• Emery has now failed to win in any of his four previous appearances in the Uefa Super Cup.

• Aston Villa's Brian Madjo (17y 212d) became the youngest player to score in the Super Cup, overtaking Patrick Kluivert in 1996 (19y 220d).

• Madjo also became the youngest player to score for Villa in all competitions since Louie Barry netted against Liverpool in the FA Cup in January 2021 (17y 201d).

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Pre-game, captain John McGinn promised Aston Villa fans they could still expect "as much as possible" this season despite the high-profile exits of Morgan Rogers and Youri Tielemans.

A battling performance in Austria backed those words up as, even in this defeat by PSG, Villa scared the European champions for a second time in 18 months, following their 5-4 Champions League last-eight defeat in 2025.

It came with a depleted side.

No Ollie Watkins, Emi Martinez and Ezri Konsa - given more time off after the World Cup - which allowed teenager Brian Madjo to finally show what he can do after Villa won their appeal to register him, and 19-year-old midfielder George Hemmings also getting a start.

The positives were also evident despite the loss, with Boubacar Kamara also playing his first competitive match since a serious knee injury in January.

Villa should be stronger for the Premier League season opener at Brighton on 23 August, with the club due to be active in the final two weeks of the transfer window.

Atletico Madrid left-back Matteo Ruggeri is poised to join this week, while they have not given up on their chase for Bayern Munich midfielder Joao Palhinha.

Ever the perfectionist, boss Emery will be frustrated by the loss - especially as it was his fourth defeat in the competition - but as Villa enter a new era there is a lot of cause for optimism.

Aston Villa have held talks with West Ham to sign right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 28, with the DR Congo defender valued at £25m. (Athletic - subscription required), external

Meanwhile, Villa have offered Bayern Munich a loan with an option to buy their Portugal midfielder Joao Palhinha, 31, but a permanent transfer is the preferred option for the German club. (Florian Plettenberg), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

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It is common practice these days for transfer fees to have performance-based add-ons. The theory is the selling club gains more if the player goes on to be extremely successful, while the buying club is to some extent protected financially if the transfer doesn't work out.

In some cases, the total value of add-ons is significant - Real Madrid could end up paying an extra £30m to Borussia Dortmund for Jude Bellingham depending on how successful he is over the course of his career in the Spanish capital, for example.

In others, like the potential £1.7m worth of add-ons Brighton's £29.78m signing of Greece Under-21 forward Charalampos Kostoulas, are less significant.

Clubs sometimes say add-ons are 'easily achievable' or 'difficult'.

Easier-to-achieve add-ons can include things like making a basic number of appearances, or scoring a certain amount of goals. Add-ons can also be attached to a team's success rather than the individual player's - a club may agree to an add-on requiring an extra payment if they qualify for Europe, for example.

Others can be more ambitious - tied to extreme levels of individual or collective success, like winning the Champions League or the Ballon d'Or.

An example of the difficulty add-ons can present when discussing valuations would be the claims made in the Portuguese media in 2022 that the first additional payment in Darwin Nunez's £64m-plus-add-ons move from Benfica to Liverpool was triggered by the Uruguayan making just 10 appearances.

Then Liverpool boss Arne Slot rejected speculation he had not started Nunez in some games because it would trigger an additional payment.

Whether Liverpool paid more for Nunez, or club captain Virgil van Dijk - for whom they paid a flat fee of £75m to Southampton in 2017 - cannot be determined without knowing exactly what add-ons were included in the Nunez deal, then figuring out which conditions he has and has not met.

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Aston Villa missed out on their first piece of silverware of the season after losing to Champions League winners Paris St-Germain in the Super Cup in Salzburg.

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know how you are feeling.

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Come back to this page on Thursday to find a selection of your replies

Sami Mokbel
Senior football correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Arsenal are reigniting their interest in Aston Villa central defender Ezri Konsa.

Konsa, 28, is still on holiday after the World Cup and is not with the Villa squad for Wednesday's Super Cup game against Paris St-Germain.

The Gunners' initial summer move for Konsa did not materialise, with the London club only willing to pay in the region of £30m for the England international who is valued at £60m by Villa.

Konsa played 48 games in all competitions last season for Aston Villa, winning the Europa League.

Arsenal accept they will need to significantly improve their original offer if they are to be successful in their efforts to land Konsa but whether Villa are willing to let the defender leave for a fee under their valuation remains to be seen.

Multiple sources have told BBC Sport the Gunners have also held exploratory talks with Tottenham over a potential move for their club captain Cristian Romero.

Spurs are thought to have no intention of selling the 28-year-old to Arsenal given the intense rivalry between the two north London clubs.

But that has not prevented Arsenal from making enquiries into what would be one of the most surprising transfers of the summer window.

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter in Salzburg

Image source, Getty Images

Aston Villa are closing in on signing Atletico Madrid defender Matteo Ruggeri.

A deal for the 24-year-old left-back is progressing and he is expected to move to Villa Park after just a season at the Metropolitano.

He will replace Lucas Digne, who completed an £8.5m return to Paris St-Germain on Sunday and could face Villa in the Super Cup on Wednesday night (20:00 BST).

Villa had been looking to revamp their left-back options this summer and were looking for more physicality in the position, having also been interested in AC Milan's Pervis Estupinan, who played for Unai Emery at Villarreal.

Ruggeri made 47 appearances for Atletico last season, after joining from Atalanta last summer and signing a five-year deal, as they finished fourth in La Liga and lost the Copa del Rey final on penalties to Real Sociedad.

He won the Europa League with Atalanta in 2024, while also being named in the competition's Team of the Season.

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Villa supporters were queuing for a boat trip on the Salzach river this morning while many gathered around Makartsteg Bridge in the middle of Salzbug.

The club had a ticket allocation of just under 7,000 for Wednesday's Super Cup against PSG.

The belief behind Unai Emery is unwavering, despite a summer of change which has seen Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne depart.

Add to that a shift in Emery's backroom team, with assistant Paco Ayestaran and key set-piece coach Austin McPhee, who has joined Chelsea, among those to have left.

But Emery remains, vital to Villa's hopes having dragged them from a relegation battle to Europa League winners in three-and-a-half years.

It is because of Emery that expectation levels remain and captain John McGinn says they should not wane.

"Similar to where it's been in the past few seasons," he said, when asked what fans should expect.

"I think we've consistently competed with the best in England. I think we've consistently competed with the best in Europe no matter what the competition is.

"We'll have our challenges, there's a lot of change, but when you look at other clubs around England, there's a lot of change there as well – a lot of coaches changing, a lot of players changing.

"We've still got the same hunger and desire to go and achieve more and as long as we've got the hunger and desire to do that, Aston Villa fans can expect as much as possible."

Aston Villa are playing in their first Super Cup since beating Barcelona in 1982 and you will get reaction aplenty on this, your Aston Villa page.

Unai Emery is the king of the Europa League.

He won a fifth title with Aston Villa in May - their win over Freiburg in Istanbul ending a 30-year trophy drought - but the Super Cup has eluded him.

On Wednesday in Salzburg Emery tries for a fourth time to win the competition, when Villa face Champions League winners Paris St-Germain.

Last season Emery declared he wanted to seal third place in the Premier League because he had not achieved it with Villa.

Finishing fourth was not a failure but it will have rankled with perfectionist Emery.

It will be the same with the Super Cup, but is the competition a glorified friendly or does it really matter?

Emery has suffered defeats by Real Madrid, Barcelona and Chelsea - the first two with Sevilla, and then losing on penalties to the Blues in Belfast with Villarreal in 2021.

A 5-4 extra-time loss to a Lionel Messi-inspired Barcelona in 2015 came a year after Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to earn Real Madrid the trophy.

Emery had already left for PSG by the time Sevilla lost the 2016 Super Cup to Real.

But, at Red Bull Arena against his former side and with 6,000 Villa fans travelling, he has the chance to break his losing streak.

"He [pointing to Villa captain John McGinn] was reminding me last week [about losing to Chelsea]," said Emery.

"Of course, it's an opportunity. A trophy is something that can give us a special moment. To play for trophies is, as a professional, our objective.

"PSG are the favourites but I am looking forward to playing, how we can test this match against PSG with our capacity?

"As a coach, as a player, as a club, it's a trophy. It's one thing that makes us proud of how we are and how we arrive here."

• Read more on Villa and the Super Cup