The 17-year-old striker has trained on his own since he was sidelined after the UEFA Super Cup final, but Villa’s manager is about to change that.
“In this break, he is going to start training with us collectively.
“Now he is still working alone, but in this break, he is going to join us collectively and hopefully then after the break [he will play],” Emery said.
Madjo has not played since that Super Cup defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in Salzburg on 12 August, when he converted John McGinn’s cross at the back post to level the score shortly before half-time in a 2-1 loss. According to the Birmingham Mail, he has since missed each of Villa’s first six matches of the season, including the trip to Tottenham Hotspur.
That goal was worth waiting for. Aston Villa only won the right to play him on 4 August, when the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld their appeal against FIFA’s refusal to register him under its rules on the international transfer of minors.
Madjo, who was born in Enfield and raised in Luxembourg, moved from FC Metz in the January window in a deal reported to be worth around £10 million, after five Ligue 1 appearances, two of them starts, for the French club. By the time the ruling arrived he had scored four pre-season goals, including two against Walsall in Villa’s opening friendly.
The same report says Villa’s break will feature a closed-doors game with Southampton at their Bodymoor Heath training ground, then a friendly against Sevilla in Spain.
Madjo was omitted from Villa’s Champions League squad for the league phase, meaning he can only play in the competition this season if he is included in the knockout-stage squad.
Emery addressed that decision earlier this month, and AFP quoted him as saying: “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.”