Aston Villa will consider offers for Jaden Philogene when the forward returns from his loan transfer to Cardiff City. Boss Unai Emery has now made his desire to sign an upgrade clear.
That is according to Birmingham Live, which reports Emery is determined to sign one wide or central attacking midfielder. The Spaniard feels the Villans must sign at least one quality addition in the role. But his plan for those positions will come at the expense of Philogene.
Aston Villa will let the 20-year-old leave in a permanent transfer having failed to maintain his progress in south Wales. Philogene impressed club chiefs whilst on loan to Stoke City in the second half of last season. Yet his form for Cardiff has so far been to a lower standard.
So, Aston Villa will consider suitable offers to sell Philogene for once his loan transfer with Cardiff expires this summer. The Birmingham natives do not want to risk his market value decreasing with his path to senior football at Villa Park set to be increasingly complicated.
Emery already has Philippe Coutinho, Leon Bailey, Emiliano Buendia and Bertrand Traore to field on the wings. Alex Moreno and Ashley Young can also occupy the wider roles. But the Villans lack an out-and-out central attacking midfield presence within their current squad.
Aston Villa will look to sell Philogene following his loan transfer with Cardiff
Philogene would have hoped to see his loan transfer with Cardiff secure a first-team role at Aston Villa next season. But he departed the Birmingham outfit whilst Steven Gerrard was in charge. Now, Emery is at the helm and is also ready to offload the Villans’ academy product.
The youngster has only made five first-team appearances with the Villans and recorded his sole start in the EFL Cup. But the winger showed his talents at Stoke last term as Philogene enjoyed 11 outings. He also scored one goal in the Championship whilst with the Potters.
Michael O’Neill also voiced his praise for Philogene whilst the winger plied his trade under the now-Northern Ireland coach. He said, via quotes by Stoke on Trent Live last February: “He’s a good player. You could see that on the first day he trained.
“He’s sharp, he’s dynamic and he does a lot of work off the ball, as well, with defence. The other thing that we like about him is that he’s brave. He puts himself into situations.”
Yet Philogene has so far only managed three goals through 24 outings for Cardiff across all competitions. He has further only started in 14 matches, including 12 of his 22 second-tier outings from 24 games. A hernia problem has also limited the right-footed gem’s minutes.
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