'Hell of a prospect' - Ex-Aston Villa scout blown away by club's new signing

Aston Villa have secured the signing of an incredibly exciting prospect in the form of Ibrahim Mbaye.

That is the opinion of former senior Villa scout, Bryan King, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.

The Villans have now confirmed the arrival of the 18-year-old, who has signed in a deal worth around £47million.

Mbaye was pursued by the likes of Liverpool this summer, but Villa stole a march and have signed the talented teenager on a long-term contract.

The Senegal international is the ninth arrival at Villa Park this summer, in what has been a complete overhaul of Unai Emery's squad.

Taylor Harwood-Bellis has become the 10th, after a £30m agreement was found with Southampton.

Ibrahim Mbaye is a 'hell of a prospect'

Mbaye was born in Trappes and joined PSG from Versailles in 2018, when he was just 10 years old.

Initially impressing for the youth teams, the winger was playing well above his age bracket and eventually caught the eye of the senior side.

Making his debut in the 2024-25 campaign and scoring his first Ligue 1 goal, Mbaye was a regular last season.

Capable of playing on both wings, the teenager has devastating pace and is a superb technician.

"It could be a very good signing. I mean, they let [Kylian] Mbappe go, didn't they? And they knew this kid's coming up," King told Football Insider.

"He's French-born, but he plays for Senegal. Oh, he's a hell of a prospect. I mean, I think both those players, Harwood-Bellis and Mbaye, are very good prospects. He's got a very good pedigree, Harwood-Bellis, same as Mbaye.

"So, for bringing in young players, it looks as though they've done well there and only time will tell, won't it? Just how they perform. Because up to the moment, there haven't been many of these new signings for Villa that have performed very well anyway."

Have Aston Villa signed the next Kylian Mbappe?

The comparison between Mbappe and Mbaye has been made before, and the players do share some similarities in their pace and technical quality.

Clearly, Mbaye has some way to go to catch up to what the Real Madrid striker was doing at the same age, however.

18-year-old Mbappe signed in a £166m move to PSG in 2017, off the back of a season in which he had scored 26 goals and provided eight assists for Monaco.

If Mbaye can get even half of those types of figures, Villa will be very happy indeed.