Mali youth international Mamadou Doumbia, who signed a six-year contract with Watford earlier in the season, met up with his new teammates at London Colney on Wednesday.

The 18-year-old, 6ft 3in left-footed striker will formally become a Watford player on July 1, but spent time familiarising himself with his new home this week, training with the first team as well as meeting interim head coach Tom Cleverley.

Doumbia was spotted playing for Black Stars FC in his home country, and caught the attention of the wider footballing community when he scored four goals in five appearances for Mali at the Under-17 African Cup of Nations in May 2023.

He followed that up with another four goals at the Under-17 World Cup in Indonesia in November.

The striker scored a hat-trick in Mali’s opening 3-0 over Uzbekistan – who later knocked England out - which set them on their way to finishing second in their group.

Wins over Mexico and Morocco took Mali to the semi-finals where they lose 2-1 to France, having led 1-0 at half-time.

Doumbia then scored the second goal in a 3-0 win over Argentina to earn Mali third place in the tournament.

In an article last year on the website footballtalentscout.net, Doumbia was described as “a player who has the potential to become a key player in a top European club”.

The article says he is a modern-days target man with “killer instinct, great off-the-ball movement, timing, intelligence, composure, and flair in the final third”.

It goes on to say 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.”