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Aston Villa in advanced talks over bizarre Jaden Philogene exit from Villa Park
Aston Villa appear to have made a bizarre decision by sanctioning the exit of Jaden Philogene from Villa Park this summer.
TEAMtalk reported on 30 August that the 21-year-old is set to join Hull City after they have agreed a deal in principle with Villa and talks are understood to be at an advanced stage with the player.
This comes despite the English winger featuring heavily for the Villans during pre-season, leading many to believe that he could have a bright future at the club.
It’s clear to see that Unai Emery doesn’t see Philogene getting much game time for Villa under him following the news of his likely depature.
After joining five years ago, the youngster came through the club’s academy and went on to notch 22 goals in 42 appearances for the youth sides.
He has been out on a couple of loans to gain first-team experience, with his latest spell away from Villa Park coming at Championship side Cardiff City last season, where he scored five goals and laid on one assist in 39 games.
On his return to the Villans, he played in all three of the clubs pre-season matches during their tour of the US this summer.
That would’ve no doubt given him hope that his chances in the first team would be vastly improved this season, but that hasn’t proven to be the case after his only appearance came as a late subsitute in the opening-day defeat at Newcastle United, where he played just three minutes.
It will come as a huge disappointment to the fans to see a promising talent leave after he looked extremely bright and full of trickery during the pre-season friendlies, with many believing that he could force his way into Emery’s thinking this year.
But the Spanish boss clearly feels as though he is well-stocked in the wide positions following the signing of Moussa Diaby to go alongside Leon Bailey and Bertrand Traore.
Speaking to Villa News about Philogene’s potential move on 25 August, former Villa defender Alan Hutton said: “I don’t understand unless the player is forcing the issue to leave permanently.
“He’s had a really good pre-season so why not send him out on loan if they don’t see him being involved at this moment in time? He could possibly come back in January or whatever to be a part of it.”
Villa will, however, hold the option of bringing the forward back to the club if he performs well for the Tigers as a buy-back clause is expected to be included in the deal, with a sell-on clause also added into the agreement.
But those clauses are still not enough for Hutton, as he said: “I understand about covering themselves but for the sake of repaying double the money in a year’s time, I don’t get it.”
This follows a trend of Villa academy graduates leaving Birmingham this summer after midfielder Aaron Ramsey made the switch to Burnley and Cameron Archer was sold to Sheffield United, with both deals also including buy-back clauses.
It’s likely the club have made the decision to sell the youngsters to help ease any concerns over financial fair play following some big-money signings during this transfer window, but perhaps keeping Philogene around after his impressive pre-season could have been the better option.
In other Aston Villa news, the club are closing in on a deal for a Champions League defender.