Aston Villa will reportedly secure the signing of Jaden Philogene in the coming days as we complete the formalities of the move.
The 22-year-old left the club last summer to join Hull City and went on to score 12 goals and provide six assists in 32 appearances for the Championship outfit.
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Having already made a positive impression with us in pre-season last summer which in turn led many to believe that he had taken his chance to be involved in our plans, it appears as though Philogene has continued to impress Unai Emery, so much so that the club is bringing him back.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the talented winger will undergo his medical on Monday while all documents are in place as he will put pen to paper on a five-year contract.
Further, he adds that the transfer will cost Villa around £13m, as we’ve not only triggered a clause in the deal that took him to Hull that gave us matching rights, but we also had a 30 percent sell-on clause inserted into the agreement too which has taken money off the fee we’ll now pay.
Should the deal go through as expected, it will be fascinating to see just how heavily involved Philogene will be for Villa in the upcoming campaign, as he has plenty of competition for places as he tries to work his way up the pecking order.
Emiliano Buendia, Morgan Rogers, Jacob Ramsey, Moussa Diaby and Leon Bailey will all be battling for a starting berth behind Ollie Watkins, and so if we add Philogene to that mix too, we’ve got superb squad depth, but it will be interesting to see how Emery balances that and gives everyone minutes.
Villa will of course be looking to compete on multiple fronts again this year, and so it’s imperative that we have quality options at Emery’s disposal in every position to not only give him the ability to rotate and rest when needed, but also have different tactical solutions and flexibility to find answers when we’re tested.
Evidently, he now believes that Philogene is ready for a more important role with us, and so time will tell if that’s all our business done in that area of the squad or if we’ll continue to strengthen if the right opportunities present themselves with outgoings not entirely ruled out just yet either.
