Aston Villa are reportedly on the verge of announcing the signings of Jaden Philogene and Amadou Onana within the next few days to bolster Unai Emery’s squad.
It’s been a busy summer already for Villa, with Ian Maatsen, Samuel Iling-Junior, Lewis Dobbin, Enzo Barrenechea and Ross Barkley all being signed, while the likes of Cameron Archer and Kosta Nedeljkovic have joined up with the squad too.
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That’s been balanced with a number of exits, as Emery continues to make changes and mould the squad into his own in order to implement his ideas as effectively as possible.
Our activity doesn’t show any sign of slowing down either, as Fabrizio Romano reports that Philogene has put pen to paper on his long-term contract with Villa as of Thursday, and all that is missing now is an official announcement from the club to confirm his return.
The 22-year-old impressed at youth level for Villa and after positive loan stints, he appeared to have worked his way into Emery’s plans last summer with his form during our pre-season schedule as he was one of the stand-out performers.
However, the decision was made to sell him to Hull City, albeit with key clauses included in the agreement, and Philogene went on to score 12 goals and provide six assists in 32 appearances for the Championship outfit.
Evidently, Emery has now seen enough from the talented youngster to be convinced that he deserves to be part of his squad moving forward, and so it appears as though it’s merely a matter of time before his return is confirmed by the club.
Meanwhile, Romano also reports that Onana will undergo his medical on Sunday ahead of his move to join us from Everton, as he has been given an extended break following his participation at EURO 2024 with Belgium.
It’s added that the 22-year-old is expected to sign his contract on Monday to complete his £50m switch which also involves a sell-on clause and add-ons, and so all that remains is completing the formalities to make it official.
Those two moves will bolster Villa’s attacking and midfield options respectively, with Philogene adding technical ability, speed and creativity in the final third to hopefully complement our other attacking players, while Onana will bring physicality, height, athleticism and defensive tenacity to our midfield, and that’s the type of profile in a player that we’ve been missing.
The hope is that it will lead to Villa being a more imposing side capable of dominating games and controlling proceedings, and with plenty of time left in the transfer window, it will be fascinating to see what further business we do between now and the end of the summer. That said, we’ve certainly already added quality and depth to the group, and it should result in a more competitive side moving forward.
