This is an updated version of an article which first appeared on The Athletic this month.

For those who are not regular watchers of France’s Ligue 1, your first introduction to Ibrahim Mbaye may have been his sensational solo goal at the World Cup for Senegal against France.

It may have only been a consolation in a 3-1 defeat, but it saw Mbaye become the youngest African player to score at a World Cup, aged 18 years and 143 days.

And setting records for becoming the youngest to do something has been part of the right-winger’s routine since he became Paris Saint-Germain’s youngest league starter (16 years and 205 days old) when he was selected to play against Le Havre in August 2024.

Born in Trappes, a western suburb of Paris, he chose to represent Senegal — where his father is from — at senior international level, despite representing France through the youth levels up to under-20s. He became his nation’s youngest player to appear at the Africa Cup of Nations in December 2025 and their youngest goalscorer in the tournament when he scored against Sudan in the round of 16.

It is no wonder that the now-18-year-old had been looked at by several of Europe’s top clubs since he broke through at PSG. Bayer Leverkusen, Liverpool and Aston Villa were three of the teams that explored a move for the winger this summer, but senior club sources at Liverpool insisted it had gone no further, dismissing reports that personal terms had been agreed.

Villa, in the meantime, had viewed Mbaye as a leading target from as early as January. They had wanted him then, but could not afford him due to ongoing financial restrictions limiting their spending.

They made contact again a few months later, believing a deal would cost £40million-£50million (about $61m). It became evident it would be towards the top end. There was a feeling among those close to Mbaye heading into the summer that Villa may have missed their opportunity.

Still, Villa’s priority position was a fast, right-sided winger who made frequent runs beyond opposition defences. Mbaye was always the player favoured across the board.

Negotiations were complex. The forward is represented by London-based agency Golden Gate, but this year, he enlisted the services of Jorge Mendes and his agency Gestifute before a potential summer move.

Each time Villa felt they were close, or a deal was likely, they were pushed back. Even after the signing of Alejandro Garnacho from Chelsea, Villa never closed the door on Mbaye. Representatives of other targets, in messages seen by The Athletic, were informed that Villa were not pursuing players who primarily operate as traditional left-wingers. Mbaye’s best position was viewed as off the right.

Ibrahim Mbaye, right, impressed against France in New Jersey (Al Bello/Getty Images)

Mbaye’s arrival seemed out of reach, with Villa pursuing Rafael Leao intently. But the relationship between Villa co-owner Nassef Sawiris and PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi was seen as key to getting the deal done. On Friday, a €55million (£47m; $64m) agreement in principle was finalised.

As for Leao, the player wished to join, but Villa could not reach the required financial package, having only offered an informal proposal of a loan plus an obligation. In the end, Villa never made a formal offer for the 27-year-old.

Mbaye has had quite the rise for a youngster whose first sporting love was not football — he preferred basketball. His father, Abdoulaye, showed him plenty of football videos and his interest grew. He joined Guyancourt, a local club in Yvelines. He then moved on to Versailles, which has a reputation for having a well-run academy.

His talent and potential were enough for PSG to get involved, and they brought him into their academy system at the age of 10. His rise continued, and by 16 he was playing for the under-19s, helping them win the Championnat National U19 title in 2024. He received the club’s Titi d’Or award, given to the most promising player in the club’s academy, in the same year.

In the summer of 2024, Mbaye was given the opportunity to train with the first team and left such an impression that head coach Luis Enrique started him in the first league game of the 2024-25 season. He made 10 appearances in all competitions and was on the bench as PSG won the Champions League for the first time.

He saw an increase in his involvement last season, making 30 appearances in all competitions. If a reminder of his age was needed, it came in September 2025, when Mbaye could not travel with the squad for an away game against Marseille because he had to sit an exam. He joined up with the squad later in the day instead, and came on as a very late substitute.

The youngster is still a raw prospect who is developing, but his youth brings a fearlessness when he is in possession. He is right-footed and has predominantly played on the right wing, but is comfortable operating on both flanks.

He uses his acceleration and excellent turning to get out of tight spaces rather than into physical duels where opponents can dominate him. He frequently looks to drive forward with the ball, which often leads to chance creation rather than shooting opportunities for himself.

Mbaye does look to get to the byline and provide the textbook low cutback for a team-mate, but his low cross volume (5 out of 99) and high link-up play (86 out of 99) in the graphic above suggest he profiles more as a quick-passing inside forward rather than a touchline-hugging winger.

It must be noted that his 997 league minutes last season are still a relatively small sample size, so an increased role at a new club would help paint a clearer picture of the multi-faceted attacker.

Mbaye, centre, celebrates with Senegal team-mates after the AFCON round-of-16 match against Sudan in January (Abdel Majid Bziouat/AFP via Getty Images)

Mbaye was involved in PSG’s pre-season, scoring in a 1-1 friendly draw against Manchester United, but he was an unused substitute in the French side’s 2-1 UEFA Super Cup victory over Villa. The forward, alongside team-mate Bradley Barcola — who is also at the centre of transfer speculation — was then left out of the squad that was beaten 1-0 by Lens in the Trophee des Champions and the squad for PSG’s opening game of the league season against Rennes.

His future may have been uncertain for much of this summer, but his talent is not, and that is why he is an enticing prospect. Emery said Villa were in “rebuild” last week — they hope Mbaye can be the face of the club’s next era.

Aston Villa have completed the signing of striker Nicolas Jackson from Chelsea.

The Athletic reported on Tuesday that the two Premier League sides had agreed package of £65million for the Senegal international, with Villa paying £47.5m upfront.

Jackson has signed a five-year contract at Villa Park with the option to extend the deal by an additional 12 months. He is the second player to move to Villa from Chelsea in this window after Alejandro Garnacho joined on loan with a conditional obligation to buy, while Morgan Rogers headed in the opposite direction in a club-record £117m deal.

Reunited. This time in claret & blue.

Aston Villa is delighted to announce the signing of Nicolas Jackson from Chelsea 🇸🇳 pic.twitter.com/s2P8j6uKJa

— Aston Villa (@AstonVilla) August 28, 2026

Jackson had been a long-standing target for the club and a favourite of head coach Unai Emery

The 25-year-old spent last season on loan at German club Bayern Munich, where he scored eight goals in the league as the team won the Bundesliga title. The Athletic reported in June that Chelsea were willing to reintegrate Jackson into the squad and he featured for the club in pre-season, though he has now left the team, becoming the second Chelsea striker to depart after Liam Delap joined Nottingham Forest.

Jackson signed an eight-year deal upon joining the west London side from for £32m from Villarreal in 2023 and made 81 appearances for the side, scoring 30 goals.

Wait, won’t this impact Villa’s profit from Rogers? Well …

Analysis by football finance writer Chris Weatherspoon

The assumption from most had been that the signing of Nicolas Jackson this window, or, indeed, any permanent signing of a Chelsea player, would impact Villa’s whopping profit on the departure of Morgan Rogers to Stamford Bridge in late July.

Where UEFA deems clubs to have engaged in a ‘player exchange transaction’, they require profits to be downgraded to the net cash difference in fees. That would be bad for both clubs, with each needing to get losses down under their settlement agreements with the European governing body.

UEFA adjusted rules around such transactions to capture deals made within 45 days of one another, something which would seem to deter Villa from buying from Chelsea: Rogers’ deal completed less than 45 days before this transfer window’s end.

Yet The Athletic has learned the timing of such deals is just one factor considered rather than a determinant on its own, and a purchase from Chelsea this window would not automatically see UEFA deem the two deals of this summer as equivalent to a player exchange transaction. Similarly, a deal made outside of a 45-day window could still be deemed a player exchange transaction, if other factors listed under the rule are present.

There is, then, room for manoeuvre. Villa’s continued pursuit of Jackson is proof enough.

Seven years and seven months after plans were first announced, there is increasing confidence at Nottingham Forest that the redevelopment of the City Ground will finally be approved next month.

The expectation at Forest is that, at a meeting on September 16, their ambitious proposals to increase the stadium’s capacity to 45,000 — and potentially 52,000 in the future — will be approved.

The sheer scale of the work to get to this point has been underlined by more than 450 documents made public by the Rushcliffe Borough Council, whose planning committee will decide whether to give the green light to the project to revamp the historic stadium.

Those documents confirm the Premier League club have agreed to the wide-ranging financial contributions and conditions they needed to commit to before work starts. It is a significant step.

Planning approval was granted for initial plans to increase capacity to 38,000 in the summer of 2025 — but last December, Forest significantly expanded those proposals with fresh designs that will see work take place on three sides of the stadium on the banks of the River Trent.

When the idea of potentially moving to a new stadium in nearby Toton was mooted in 2024, the scale of opposition underlined the historical and emotional connection the club’s fans have to their picturesque home.

Forest have played at the City Ground since 1898. The prospect of remaining there with Champions League-standard facilities should excite supporters.

Fans have waited patiently for work to start and now there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel.

What is the backstory?

Forest initially submitted plans to redevelop the City Ground in February 2019, when they were still playing in the Championship.

The intention was to demolish the Peter Taylor Stand — the oldest and smallest of the four — and build a new structure that would increase capacity to 38,000. Those works would have made the City Ground the biggest stadium in the East Midlands, overtaking Derby County’s Pride Park.

Planning approval was granted, but Forest’s rise to the Premier League prompted club owner Evangelos Marinakis to significantly scale up their ambitions, increasing the hurdles involved.

Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis wants Champions League standards for the club’s ground (Molly Darlington/Getty Images)

The logistics involved in getting an additional 14,000 people in and out of the stadium on matchday — once the first phase of the project is complete — have been a major obstacle. Forest must demonstrate that they can overcome the additional challenges of crowd and traffic management, including parking.

A ‘critically important’ expansion

With the decision looming over whether to give the club permission to start work, the Nottingham Forest Supporters Trust (NFST) has urged the region’s politicians to back the City Ground redevelopment.

The NFST has written to members of parliament, councillors and regional leaders, urging them to support the application before that crucial September 16 meeting.

The letter, sent to almost 200 of the area’s senior figures — including every councillor at Nottingham City Council, Nottinghamshire County Council and Rushcliffe Borough Council, as well as the leaders of Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Broxtowe, Gedling, Mansfield and Newark and Sherwood councils — calls upon them to give their “full and active” support to the plans.

Seen by The Athletic, it describes the club’s plans for the City Ground as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to secure the future of one of the region’s most important sporting, cultural and economic institutions”. It argues that the plans have the “overwhelming” support and backing of Nottingham Forest supporters and are vital to the club’s long-term future.

The new vision for the City Ground (KSS, available on public portal)

More than 1,200 letters of support were sent to Rushcliffe Borough Council backing the plans, with 700 of those written by NFST members.

East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward has previously backed the proposals, describing an upgraded stadium as the “centrepiece” of a “Trent Sports Quarter” — the area that also includes Notts County’s Meadow Lane stadium, the historic Trent Bridge cricket ground and Holme Pierrepont watersports centre — at a launch event at the City Ground in December.

Asif Naidu, chair of the NFST, said in a statement: “Forest supporters are fully behind the club’s plans for an expanded City Ground and this is an historic opportunity for the club, the city and the region.

“It is critically important that the redevelopment plans get approval and don’t get bogged down in even more delays.

“The support of our local leaders in getting the application over the line is vital and the NFST welcomes the opportunity to work together to safeguard the future of our world-famous home.”

What the latest documents reveal

Among the files that have been made public is a draft version of the ‘section 106 agreement’, outlining the agreed work that needs to be done for the project to proceed, between Nottingham City Council, Nottinghamshire County Council, the club, Rushcliffe Borough Council, Nottingham Rowing Club and the Environment Agency.

Among many other things, it shows Forest will have to contribute £1.75million ($2.4m) to improve bus services on matchdays.

They will have to make a payment of £990,000 to aid the county council in implementing parking restrictions in the surrounding area and a payment of close to £400,000 to improve park-and-ride facilities.

A total of £170,000 is needed for canalside development, electronic transport information displays and e-bike docking stations. The club will need to invest £100,000 in new signs surrounding the stadium. More than £400,000 is required for walking and cycle path improvements.

Another stumbling block has been the rowing club’s Britannia boathouse, which needs to be demolished and rebuilt, by Forest, in another location. Work on the development will not be allowed to start until flood defence plans are approved by the Environment Agency.

There are 471 separate documents relating to the application on Rushcliffe Borough Council’s planning portal, demonstrating the scale and complexity of the project.

What do the plans involve?

The latest set of proposals, submitted in early January, would see extensive work undertaken on three of the four stands.

The first phase of work would increase capacity to 45,000, before a subsequent redevelopment of the Brian Clough Stand would further grow that number by roughly 7,000.

Forest intend to make the Peter Taylor Stand one of the biggest in English football.

A view of the new-look ground with the expanded Peter Taylor Stand (KSS, available on public portal)

The new structure would be 58 metres tall — only slightly shorter than the Council House in the city’s Market Square, where Forest celebrated promotion in 2022. The initial proposals were for a stand 20m shorter. The plans would see Peter Taylor Stand triple in size, from 5,000 to 15,000 seats.

Forest want to fill in the corners on either side of the Trent End, joining it up with the neighbouring stands to create up to 5,000 more seats as part of that first phase of work.

Marinakis wants to equip his club with a ground that meets Champions League standards.

How important would these plans be to Forest?

Simply knowing they can remain at the City Ground will be huge for the club and its supporters. But there are other benefits, too.

If the City Ground capacity is ultimately increased to 52,000, that would put them among the Premier League’s big hitters. Newcastle United’s St James’ Park and Everton’s newly built Hill Dickinson Stadium have similar capacities, although Manchester United’s Old Trafford remains the biggest stadium in the top flight, with nearly 75,000 seats.

Increased attendance would immediately boost revenue. But the redevelopment plans include a vast addition of executive and corporate seating, which would further enhance matchday revenues.

(KSS, available on public portal)

Beyond football, the City Ground has hosted a Take That concert and the club hope the stadium will become more than just a weekend destination.

Aston Villa and Liverpool are among the clubs who have established their stadiums as music venues as well as football grounds, and Forest hope to achieve something similar.

So, what happens next?

The September 16 meeting of Rushcliffe Borough Council’s planning committee, which will be held at Rushcliffe Arena and broadcast live on YouTube, is the next step.

If the project is approved, Forest can begin minor work to get things started immediately, although the majority of it would begin — at the earliest — at the end of the season, in May.