Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has confirmed that both Cameron Archer and Jaden Philogene are closing in on exits, and hinted at further transfer activity.
Villa have made four signings this summer thus far, with Youri Tielemans, Pau Torres, Moussa Diaby and Nicolo Zaniolo arriving to bolster our squad.
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While others have left, we also suffered two major setbacks with both Tyrone Mings and Emiliano Buendia sustaining serious injuries, and so with the potential for us to play in excess of 50 games this season, it’s important that Emery has the competition and depth needed across the squad to compete on multiple fronts.
Two youth players who had been expected to feature more heavily this season having been involved over pre-season are seemingly now set to leave though, with Emery commenting on both Archer and Philogene in his pre-Burnley press conference on Friday.
“Cameron Archer, Aaron Ramsey, Jaden (Philogene) because they are young players, they can develop a lot in their career,” Emery said, as quoted by the Athletic. “But we are having a very good offer for them and we are letting them to go and trying to keep under our control the possibility of them coming back because we believe in them but we know now they need to play minutes, take confidence and here maybe they are not going to have the same opportunity like they can have playing in other teams.
“We are selling them because as well for us economically it is good, but always trying to control them and follow then their progress like we think they can do. Then, of course, they are increasingly the level we are thinking, they can be again with us coming back.”
As per the Athletic’s report above, Philogene is set for a move to Hull City worth around £5m, while Sheffield United are said to be close to reaching a deal worth £18.5m for Archer, with both agreements said to have buy-back options included in them.
In turn, combined with Aaron Ramsey’s £14m move to Burnley this week, these are important financial boosts on youth products that could give us increased flexibility to strengthen for the more immediate future, while also holding an option on their respective futures to bring them back if they impress.
That seems like sensible transfer work particularly if they were set for limited roles with us anyway, and Emery went on to also reveal that while he’s happy with the squad depth currently, the club is continuing to work on identifying potential signings to improve us before the upcoming deadline.
“Yes, I am very happy,” he said, as per VillaTV. “We are working being very focused and deep in our decisions. We let some players leave and we are analysing other players.
“We are trying as well to be intelligent and smart in the last days of the transfer window if we need something more. And if someone is leaving as well.
“And then we had two really horrible injuries to Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendía.
“We are not trying to replace them, we are being concerned how we can occupy the spaces they are leaving in the squad. With the players we have now inside or somebody we can add outside to help us.
“But we can’t replace them, they are very special and important players for us.
“We have to manage how we can use the gaps in the squad.”
Time will tell who else does arrive, but Villa are clearly analysing each decision meticulously with the objective of improving significantly and pushing ourselves forward with every deal.
Given we’re striving to compete at the top level, the strategy of quality over quantity is absolutely the right one, and it’s hoped that we can build on what we’ve done so far this summer.
Losing top talents like Archer and Philogene is disappointing as it’s always the ideal scenario that our youth players make a breakthrough at senior level, but Emery, Director of Football Operations, Monchi, and the club as a whole, clearly have a well thought-out plan and will continue to work up until the transfer deadline.