Ciaran Morrison

Mon 16 March 2026 19:00, UK

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Aston Villa are locked in a high-stakes dispute with FIFA to secure a “special exception” that would allow £10m January signing Brian Madjo to finally make his debut.

That is according to ex-Aston Villa, Everton, and Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who states that the situation is not an easy one to resolve.

Madjo joined Aston Villa from Metz in the January transfer window, but as an overseas transfer, the 17-year-old is not able, under FIFA rules, to be registered until he turns 18, despite having been born in England.

It means Aston Villa have suffered a transfer blow after working to strengthen their squad in January, with Madjo not turning 18 until next year.

Brian Madjo ‘should qualify for exemption’ to register for Aston Villa

Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes Aston Villa’s club secretary will be working behind the scenes to clarify the situation.

Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast, Wyness hopes FIFA can give “Aston Villa the chance” to register Madjo.

He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “I know that Sharon Barnhurst the club secretary will be doing all she can to get that clarified. But there does seem to be a case on both sides here.

“I think Villa should be allowed to register and play. He can play for the youth teams, but it’s playing for the senior squad is what I understand at 18. Now, he’s 18 in January. So it’s still a long time to wait to get that clearance. And he’s an exciting young talent.

“And we’re seeing players at Arsenal now, 15, 16, 17 years old, and so they can do it at that age. And he seems to be of that sort of talent. So I think FIFA’s got to look at this and realise that if he was born in England, that makes him qualify for the exception. And they shouldn’t be trying to stunt his growth in this way.

“They should be working from the player side to try and get him registered and let him play. So it’s a foggy one, it’s not a simple one, but I think that I would be hoping that they can see their way through this one and giving Villa the chance to register the kid right now.”

James Maddison could reject Aston Villa move

Former Man United chief scout Mick Brown told Football Insider that Aston Villa’s interest in James Maddison could be disregarded even if Tottenham suffer relegation to the Championship.

Aston Villa could pursue a move for the 29-year-old if Spurs drop down to the second tier and need to sell their star players.

Maddison though, who has spent all this season on the sidelines with an ACL injury, could stay at the north London club next season to regain match fitness no matter what division they’re in.