Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has praised Jaden Philogene, and has left the door open for him to be part of his plans this season.
The 21-year-old was included in our 26-man squad for our USA pre-season tour this month, following on from impressing in the friendly against Walsall.
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Not only did he go on to start all three games in the Premier League Summer Series, but he bagged a goal in the win over Fulham, and impressed throughout with his attacking ability and defensive discipline to show both sides of his game.
With that in mind, it comes as no real surprise that Emery was pleased with his contribution, but there will be an important decision needed in the coming weeks that will not only shape our squad, but represent an important step in Philogene’s career moving forward.
“Jaden is the player with the most positive surprise we are seeing,” Emery said, as per BirminghamLive. “That’s the reason why he started the three matches in the starting XI and played well.
“He has offers to leave but at the moment we are going to stay with him and we are going to decide, but if he stays in the performance like he is doing, he has possibilities and has potential in our squad for next season.
“Other players are the same, Cameron Archer, he really played very well in Middlesbrough and he scored goals, he also played well against Fulham. Aaron Ramsey, Revan are playing well as well. Other players in the academy are training with us and I like to give young players the possibility to show themselves with us.”
Villa face Lazio and Valencia this week as we wrap up our pre-season schedule, and so it sounds as though Philogene and our other youngsters will continue to get opportunities to impress and cement their place in Emery’s plans for the upcoming campaign.
He has certainly been the stand-out talent though so far this summer, and particularly as we not only need homegrown players in the squad for Europe, but also to provide competition and depth as we try to compete on multiple fronts this year, Philogene could be a crucial option to have on our right side when Emery opts to rotate.
After loan stints with Stoke City and Cardiff City, it is felt as though this is now a key moment in Philogene’s path as if he doesn’t get his chance this season, there’s no guarantee that it comes back around in the future.
The same goes for Archer, Ramsey, Revan and others, and so it will be fascinating to see who Emery decides to keep, and who he believes would benefit from another loan stint elsewhere or perhaps won’t make the eventual cut and can move on permanently this summer if a suitable offer comes in.