Mamadou Doumbia, a Mali youth international who signed a six-year contract with Watford earlier this season, met with his new teammates at London Colney on Wednesday.
The 18-year-old, 6ft 3in left-footed striker will officially join Watford on July 1, but he spent this week getting to know his new surroundings, including working with the first team and meeting interim head coach Tom Cleverley.
Doumbia was seen playing for Black Stars FC in his home country and gained attention from the football community when he scored four goals in five games for Mali at the Under-17 African Cup of Nations in May 2023.
He followed that up with four more goals at the Under-17 World Cup in Indonesia in November.
The attacker scored a hat-trick in Mali’s opening 3-0 win over Uzbekistan, who later eliminated England, propelling them to second place in their group.
Mali advanced to the semi-finals after defeating Mexico and Morocco, where they lost 2-1 to France despite leading 1-0 at halftime.
Doumbia then scored the second goal in Mali’s 3-0 victory over Argentina, securing third place in the competition.
Doumbia was described as “a player who has the potential to become a key player in a top European club” in a 2017 article on the website footballtalentscout.net.
According to the report, he is a modern-day target man with “killer instinct, great off-the-ball movement, timing, intelligence, composure, and flair in the final third”.
The article goes on to note that Doumbia “in addition to his superb link and hold-up play, also knows how to turn with a player on his back and make powerful runs to beat the defensive line.”
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