Rather than be burdened by the pressure of extra attention, Modou Keba Cisse flourished last season.The 20-year-old defender returned to Austrian Bundesliga outfit LASK on loan, having joined Aston Villa in July 2025. Villa had bought Cisse for €5million (£4.2m) — the second most expensive transfer in LASK’s history — before deciding, in firm agreement with the player’s representatives, that it would be conducive to spend one more season in Austria.Cisse had only been at LASK since July 2024, scouted following four short months in Spain with Real Avila’s academy. They were the club that provided the opportunity to come to Europe as, before then, Cisse was playing for Be Sport Academy in his home country of Senegal.“I brought him to the second team initially,” Luka Pavlovic, who was LASK’s Under-18s coach at the time, told The Athletic. “He went on trial, and I said: ‘He is the next Pogba’ — he was a midfielder then. But the club put him at centre-back, which was a great decision. He was great in training, hard-working and a nice, quiet guy.”When Villa finalised the deal, Cisse had played just 12 games for LASK. From a data perspective, information was based on a small sample size, especially compared to other recruits. Nonetheless, Villa’s references and background checks were promising and suggested he was worth the relatively minor gamble.For starters, Villa had secured Cisse from the clutches of the City Group, who were planning to send him to Troyes, the French team within its multi-club network. Villa were fortunate that there was dithering during discussions between Cisse’s former representatives and the City Group, allowing them an opportunity, led by then sporting director Monchi, to come in. Cisse had already agreed his salary terms with Troyes, with negotiations only held up by minor, yet seemingly prolonged, points.“In these 12 games, there were many scouts from big leagues coming to see him,” says one person close to Cisse, speaking on the condition of anonymity.Cisse’s new agent, G Talent, wanted to offer as many different routes as possible, should the protracted talks with Troyes collapse.