BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - MAY 28: Unai Emery the head coach / manager of Aston Villa celebrates qualifying for the UEFA Conference League after the 2-1 victory over Brighton during the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion at Villa Park on May 28, 2023 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. (Photo by Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images)
Unai Emery explains why Aston Villa will sell Jaden Philogene despite impressive pre-season
Latest Aston Villa news from BirminghamLive as Unai Emery explains why he is allowing Jaden Philogene to leave the club for Hull City
Latest Aston Villa news from BirminghamLive as Unai Emery explains why he is allowing Jaden Philogene to leave the club for Hull City
Unai Emery claims the offer which Aston Villa received from Hull City to sign Jaden Philogene was too good to turn down.
The Tigers are set to sign Philogene for £5million after the winger had a medical on Friday ahead of signing for the Championship club. He spent last season on loan at Cardiff City and made 37 appearances for the Bluebirds, scoring four goals and recording one assist.
Philogene impressed on loan at Stoke City for the second half of the 2021/22 season before joining Cardiff last term. The 21-year-old made a total of six appearances for Villa having signed for the club’s academy in 2019.
Despite making an impression during pre-season earlier this summer, Villa accepted Hull’s approach for him, but retain a buy-back clause. Speaking of Philogene’s pending departure, Emery said: “Jaden started training with us last year at the end of the season, he started in the pre-season, and we were analysing him.
“I was very happy with him and we decided to let him to leave because we have offer, a very good offer for him and because we are thinking to play regularly here is going to be more difficult than going again in another club.
“Of course, we are going to follow him and we are going to be aware as well of how he’s developing, but we are very demanding in our squad, in our decision to keep players here. We want to be competitive in every competition we are going to face.”
Villa sold Aaron Ramsey for £14million to Burnley this month, while Cameron Archer is set to join Sheffield United for £18.5million. When the striker’s move to Bramall Lane is confirmed, Villa will have raised £157.5million worth of transfer fees for academy graduates since 2021.
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