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For the past eight months, the main talking point around Aston Villa striker Brian Madjo has been whether he could actually take part in matches.

The 17-year-old joined Villa from Metz in January, but the club were unable to register him straightaway. Although he was born in North London, Madjo is a full international for Luxembourg.

That made his registration process more complicated, and it was decided that Madjo could not be registered until he turned 18 next January.

Sharp-eyed supporters will have noticed, however, that Madjo did feature for Villa in Wednesday’s UEFA Super Cup clash against Paris Saint-Germain in Salzburg.

The back-to-back Champions League winners were clinical enough to win despite Villa being further along in their pre-season preparations, but Madjo was the player who grabbed the attention after smashing a volley beyond PSG goalkeeper Matvey Safonov while under close pressure from Willian Pacho.

After Villa’s appeal was upheld late last month by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Madjo is now officially registered and available. His captain, John McGinn, believes he will be a ‘big player’ for the Europa League winners this season.

It takes only a brief look at Madjo to understand how literally that might prove to be, but his international eligibility has now come under scrutiny following an impressive debut against the champions of Europe.

Madjo is not classed as a home-grown player. He was born in Enfield, but he played his junior football in Luxembourg before moving into the youth system at Metz three years ago. He represented Luxembourg at age-group level and earned three senior caps last year.

The teenager, who was also eligible for Cameroon, qualifies for England by birth and was able to switch his international allegiance under FIFA’s one-time switch regulations. Madjo has now committed to England and has quickly collected nine caps — along with four goals — for Liam Bramley’s under-17 side.

It is too early to say with certainty how his international career will progress from here, but Madjo is clearly a footballer who believes in his own ability and has the physical presence to match it, as PSG’s continent-leading defence found out in Salzburg on Wednesday.

“I know how to adapt because I’ve played in Luxembourg and in France, so I know what it’s like to move to another country,” he said when he arrived at Bodymoor Heath in January.

“On the pitch and off the pitch, that will really help me in Birmingham. Playing against senior teams helped me a lot in every way: intensity, responsibility.

“It really helped me to be here because I now know what it’s like to be around experienced players. And I know how mature I am now because experienced players helped me.”

It is easy to understand why there is so much excitement around a player who could still have 20 years ahead of him and already looks physically ready, but Madjo is only 17. He will need to be handled carefully, not just by Unai Emery but also within the England set-up.