TRANSFER NEWS: Villa signed a young player to a £15 million contract this…..
The latest Aston Villa news from BirminghamLive as this former Claret & Blue youngster continues to tear up the Championship
Aston Villa trainee Jaden Philogene is ‘on the list’ of several Premier League clubs and is even attracting attention from across Europe after his stunning first season at Hull City.
That according to Fabrizio Romano who notes the 22-year-old is ‘one to watch’ and that at the end of the current campaign he will have two years left on the deal he signed when he left Villa in the summer.
Romano hinted there could be approaches as early as this summer, a situation which would force Villa to make a final decision on the winger’s long-term future. While Philogene is a Hull City player, having joined for £5m in September, part of that deal was a buy back option.
Speaking shortly after signing Philogene Tigers’ vice-chairman Tan Kesler said : “If we [are] promoted (to the Premier League), Villa have the right to buy him back for £15m. Having said that, if we have another offer that’s worth more than £15m then we would have the right to discuss it, it’s not like we’re forced to sell to Villa but they would have the first choice.”
READ MORE: I rejected Arsenal and Tottenham to stay at Aston Villa for exactly the same reason
READ MORE: Aston Villa trade mark new crest design as Chris Heck hope goes up in smoke amid concerns
As things stand Hull are well in the play-off hunt, sitting in sixth place, but only five points above ninth-placed Preston. They have been highly ambitious in the transfer market this season, not only signing Philogene but adding the likes of Fabio Carvalho on loan from Liverpool and Anass Zaroury, who they have borrowed from Burnley.
If they go up as Liam Rosenior hopes, Villa will then have the chance to buy Philogene back for a relatively small sum given the impact he has had on the league, scoring eight and adding six assists in 19 games.
Villa would also have the chance to match any other offer the Tigers receive – with interest seemingly growing in this country and overseas.
The youngster, who has had loan spells with Stoke and Cardiff City, made a decent impact for Villa in pre-season, impressing against Newcastle and Fulham and also featuring in wins against Lazio and Valencia. He even played for Villa as a sub in the first game of the season at Newcastle.
But in the end Unai Emery allowed him to leave with the attacker saying in December. “I needed game time,” he told The Sun . “At my age I can’t just sit on the bench, I need to keep playing and thought this was the best opportunity. Obviously you must be doing something well to get linked with the sort of clubs I have.But you can’t let that get to your head because that’s when the focus drops. You must keep working hard and stay in your game — and everything will come from that.”
