Language Selection

Get healthy now with MedBeds!
Click here to book your session

Protect your whole family with Orgo-Life® Quantum MedBed Energy Technology® devices.

Advertising by Adpathway

Unai Emery reveals the monster Aston Villa teenager he can't wait to unleash

1 week ago 9

PROTECT YOUR DNA WITH QUANTUM TECHNOLOGY

Orgo-Life the new way to the future

Advertising by Adpathway

Published Sep 5, 2026, 11:41 AM GMT+1

Ben is an experienced sports journalist and senior editor at Football FanCast, specialising in transfer reporting, Premier League coverage and football analysis. He graduated with a Master's degree in Sports Journalism in 2017.

Ben has written for publications including the Liverpool Echo and the Lincolnshire Echo. Throughout his career, he has covered a range of sports, from American football to mixed martial arts, but his primary passion has always been football journalism.

Since joining Football FanCast in 2018, initially as a freelance writer covering clubs across the English football pyramid, Ben has established himself as one of the publication's leading transfer reporters. His expertise lies in assessing the credibility of transfer stories, analysing what they mean for clubs and supporters, and providing context behind football's biggest talking points. Along the way, he has built an extensive network of trusted sources across the football industry that strengthens both his reporting and editorial insight.

Today, Ben leads Football FanCast's news team as Senior Editor, overseeing the publication's football coverage while helping shape its editorial standards, transfer reporting and analysis.

Unai Emery has been discussing his Aston Villa squad ahead of the trip to Hull City, touching on injuries, his Champions League squad selection and just how highly he rates an up and coming talent at Bodymoor Heath.

Emery gave an update on Johan Manzambi's continued absence, with the Swiss signing still working his way back to full fitness.

"No, not yet. He's training with the group and getting better and feeling good but he will need some days more. I don't know if for the Champions League on Tuesday or for the next match against Nottingham Forest."

Villa are also without Joao Gomes through suspension for the trip to Hull, while Amadou Onana remains a long-term absentee as he continues his recovery from reconstructive knee surgery. Elsewhere, though, Emery sounded relatively upbeat.

"No really bad news. I think the players they are ready and some players we have signed in the last week will get progressively better and better and understanding our way to play.

"Hopefully tomorrow we can do one step forward, playing better, competing better, and hopefully getting some points."

The headline news, though, centred on Villa's Champions League squad list. With the club falling short of the required homegrown quota, Emery was forced to trim his 25-man group to 23, and summer arrival Taylor Harwood-Bellis was among those to miss out, alongside youngsters Modou Keba Cisse and Brian Madjo.

Emery singles Madjo out for special praise

Madjo only made his Villa debut last month, having spent much of the year in limbo over eligibility rules following his January move from Metz. But when he finally got his chance, in the UEFA Super Cup final against PSG, he made it count in style scoring a stunning equaliser to become the youngest goalscorer in the competition's history, breaking a 30-year-old record held by Patrick Kluivert.

Despite his exclusion, Emery was quick to stress this isn't the last Villa fans will see of Madjo in Europe, and he can't wait to see what he can do in both the short and long-term future.

"Madjo is 17 years old, still being so, so young, and of course he will have more opportunities to play with us this year or the next year in Europe."

It's not hard to see why Emery is so excited. Standing at 6 foot 4, Madjo has already drawn comparisons to Romelu Lukaku and Emile Heskey for his physical presence, while pundits queued up to praise him. Stan Collymore called him "a colossus of a man, reminiscent of a Lukaku when he comes towards the ball, holds it, pops it off and spins away" after the cup final, while legendary number nine Ally McCoist singled out his physicality during commentary on the game itself.

Speaking more broadly, Emery outlined why patience is needed with the club's growing crop of young talent, several of whom have arrived over the past year.

"A lot of young players with huge potential. Some can show the potential quick and some take time. But, we are very motivated, very excited, how we can get and keep the same level we had in Premier League."

Villa's summer signings

Nationality

Previous Club

Fee

Nicolas Jackson	Senegal	Chelsea	£65m
Johan Manzambi	Switzerland	Freiburg	£59.5m
Ibrahim Mbaye	Senegal	PSG	£47m
Joao Gomes	Brazil	Wolves	£38m
Zion Suzuki	Japan	Parma	£30m
Taylor Harwood-Bellis	England	Southampton	£29m
Matteo Ruggeri	Italy	Atletico Madrid	£17m
Modou Keba Cisse	Senegal	LASK	£4.3m
Leon Goretzka	Germany	Bayern Munich	Free
Alejandro Garnacho	Argentina	Chelsea	Loan
Aaron Wan-Bissaka	DR Congo	West Ham	Loan

Madjo isn't the only one waiting for his chance. Keba Cisse, another exciting addition to the squad, has also been left out of the Champions League group this season but represents another long-term project Emery is clearly keen to develop.

With Villa's academy pipeline continuing to feed talent through and Emery openly discussing his excitement for what's to come, the message from Bodymoor Heath is clear: patience afer a summer of upheaval, but plenty more to look forward to.

Read Entire Article