Just chipping in on this one, my lad started out with the Ibanez Gio - think that's now the Ibanez GR series. Couldn't fault it at the time, but Yamaha Pacifica range always look and feel pretty good. Squier strats and teles pretty good as a staring point - better than Epiphone at the same prices IMO.
Tons of reviews for the Harley Bentons (Thomann own brand) on youtube and they seem to get decent reviews from lots of fairly decent guitarists. They have starter packs for ~£130+. Bundle below is a bit higher up the price range but seems to be everything you would need as a starter
Harley Benton TE-40 TBK Bundle 1 – Thomann UK
Beautiful, Carved Top Telecaster at a GREAT PRICE! (Harley Benton TE-40) - Demo / Review - YouTube
Think key thing has already been mentioned by a few on here, a badly made and set up guitar - where the strings sit high off the frets (high action) and heavy strings - can put a young un off really quickly. Remember buying a Columbus Les Paul copy way back, heavy as hell and I never got on with it. Replaced with a Squier Strat which I still have 30+ years later.
Ideally I'd say get down to a decent music shop and see what feels right, but probably not an option at the moment. Any mates or family have guitars he could try out?