Aston Villa slammed as ‘strange’ £15m Jaden Philogene twist emerges at Hull City
We’re delighted to welcome former Aston Villa full-back Alan Hutton as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Villa Park…
Alan Hutton admits it was “strange” to see Aston Villa sell Jaden Philogene in the summer with the attacker shining at Hull City in the Championship.
Philogene, 21, was a regular with Unai Emery’s squad in pre-season friendlies but on 1 September, he was sold to Hull for £5million [Yorkshire Post].
In that deal, Villa agreed a buy-back clause with Hull, meaning the West Midlands club have the option to re-sign their former left-winger for £15million if the Tigers are promoted to the Premier League. Villa also have first refusal on Philogene if another club offers that amount for him at any time [HullLive].
Hull are currently sixth in the Championship with Philogene scored six goals and supplying five assists in 12 league appearances this season for the Humberside club.
Hutton believes Villa would be admitting they were wrong to sell him if they explore a deal to re-sign the forward but he also says his former club were wrong to sell him in the first place.
“Do you know what? I’m surprised he went,” Hutton told Villa News.
“I don’t understand why you would go and put buy-back clauses and sell them. I get that you do it because of their potential but if that’s the case, keep them in the squad.
“I thought when he was playing in the first team, he was a stand-out at times. He had a great pre-season.
“It’s a strange one but I think they’ll monitor it.
“They probably put that clause in to protect themselves if he did hit the heights, which it seems he’s been doing recently. But if you go and buy him back, you’re kind of admitting you made a mistake so ultimately, it’ll be interesting to see what they do.”
In other Aston Villa news, it is “done” for this central midfielder to quit Villa Park with a permanent transfer deal already agreed.