4 weeks ago
25
'More complete than Lukaku
©TM/IMAGO
Ligue 1 restarted last weekend and there were plenty of fascinating storylines from the opening weekend of the French top-flight. Reigning champions PSG kicked off their title defence with a narrow win against Nantes, while it all unraveled at Marseille with Adrien Rabiot and Jonathan Rowe transfer listed after a dressing room bust-up after a dramatic defeat to Rennes. It was one story, however, that didn’t demonstrate the headlines that was arguably the most fascinating.
On their return to the top-flight, Metz gave a 16-year-old striker his professional debut and entrusted him to lead the line - Brian Madjo. It was fitting that Madjo’s debut arrived in the Derby de L’Est against Strasbourg with Liam Rosenior’s starting eleven all born after 2000 with an average age of just 20.4 years old. Despite his age, Madjo is already 6ft 2in and his incredible athleticism stands out with Metz believing that the talented striker is destined for greatness.
Who is Brian Madjo?
Madjo was born in Enfield, North London, in January 2009 but he moved to Luxembourg at a relatively young age. The physically imposing striker comes from good footballing stock with his father, Guy, a professional footballer, who represented several English clubs, including Bristol City, Port Vale and Crawley Town. The young Metz striker only signed his first professional contract earlier this summer after excelling for their youth team. Madjo scored 13 goals in 26 appearances for Metz’s U19 with first-team manager Stephane Le Mignan promoting him to the senior squad this summer. Ligue 1 clubs are renowned for giving youngsters opportunities and Madjo only ranks 16th for youngest debutants in the French top-flight.
Moreover, Madjo has already amassed three senior international appearances for Luxembourg. Luc Holtz handed the Metz starlet his debut against Sweden in March and he played an hour as Luxembourg pulled off a famous win. Due to his physical profile, Madjo has drawn comparisons to Romelu Lukaku with Manuel Cardoni, Luxembourg’s technical director, claiming Madjo has a more ‘complete profile’ than the Napoli striker. "His profile is similar," said Cardoni. "But, even if we are keeping our feet on the ground, Brian has a more complete profile [than Lukaku], because he is good in tight spaces, really good in terms of positional play. He is also good in terms of going in behind [the defence], and he can also feed the ball with both feet. He has huge room for growth.” Madjo remains relatively unknown but he’s an immense talent worth keeping an eye on with several English Premier League clubs tracking his development.
