Aston Villa boss Unai Emery is reportedly set to keep Jaden Philogene in his squad this season, and that would arguably be the right decision.
As per The Athletic’s Gregg Evans, Villa are now expected to keep the 20-year-old around the senior squad to start the new campaign, albeit Emery did confirm to the media this past weekend that offers have come in and a decision has yet to be made.
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Philogene started all three of our pre-season games in the USA, getting himself on the scoresheet against Fulham and generally impressing with his all-round performances in each outing.
While he has speed, technical ability and offers a threat in the final third, it was equally as impressive to see him be consistently disciplined and committed defensively, as he put in a shift for the team with his tracking back and pressure off the ball.
As a young player looking to make an impression on a relatively new manager overseeing his first pre-season at the club, that arguably should be expected as a bare minimum, but Philogene slotted into the system and style of play really well, and naturally that led to strong arguments in favour of now giving him a chance to shine in the senior squad.
Competition for places is strong in this Villa side now, with John McGinn often being favoured on that right side of our midfield by Emery, who also has the option of playing the likes of Leon Bailey, Bertrand Traore and Moussa Diaby there.
However, Philogene has now perhaps earned the right to get an opportunity to impress in competitive games, while we will of course need competition and depth ahead of a big season in which we’ll look to compete on multiple fronts, as well as needing homegrown players for our European squad.
Additionally, could his emergence speed up the push to offload individuals who are likely to see their role continue to become more limited, thus allowing us to trim the squad and balance the books while promoting another youth product capable of delivering at this level?
There are many positives and that in turn makes the case to keep Philogene a strong one, at least until January when the decision can be reviewed to determine how it has worked out in the first half of the season and whether or not a change is needed.
It could also be argued that he needs regular minutes now to build on his summer and continue to develop rather than remain as a bench option for the most part this season and lose that momentum.
However, with our Europa Conference League playoff round coming up at the end of the month, and should we make it through to the group stages we’ll play six games between September 21 and December 14, on top of our Premier League schedule and the start of the domestic cup competitions, we will need a strong bench to rotate and cope with that fixture list.
In turn, it all points toward keeping a talented young player with the ability to make an important impact around the group, to continue to learn and develop while making an impression when given an opportunity.
The same could be said for the likes of Cameron Archer and Tim Iroegbunam, and if Villa’s transfer business is almost complete this summer, it would be great to see our youth products come through alongside our new recruits and form part of what will hopefully be a balanced squad built for success.
📊 Jaden Philogene. V impressive on pre-season tour. Not only his attacking play & threat in final third, but defensive discipline too w/ great work ethic.
Emery confirmed offers have come in, but strongly hinted he could keep him in the squad. Keep or loan?#avfc #UTV 🟣🔵
— Talk Villa (@thetalkvilla) August 1, 2023