Unai Emery admits Jaden Philogene didn’t deliver the performances he expected from the winger after pushing hard to bring him back to Aston Villa in the summer after sanctioning his permanent departure to Ipswich Town.
Villa sold Philogene to Hull City in the summer of 2023, and the exciting 22-year-old enjoyed a stellar season at the MKM Stadium before returning to the Birmingham-based club in July amid a bizarre transfer situation which saw bids from Ipswich, Everton and even links to Barcelona.
City had agreed to a double deal with the Tractor Boys for Philogene and Jacob Greaves worth just under £40m, only for Villa to come in at the eleventh hour and match Ipswich’s bid under the terms of their buy-back agreement, which took the player to the MKM Stadium in the first place.
Since rejoining Villa, though, Philogene has made just 15 appearances in all competitions, with just four of those coming from the start. He will now head to Portman Road in a deal worth an initial £20m, with the England Under-21 international penning a four-and-a-half-year deal, joining Greaves and another ex-City man in Liam Delap in Suffolk.
“We are trying to get the best for the club, the best for the team and the player,” Emery said. “We try to make the best decision, trying to analyse deeply each situation. With Jaden, we believe in him, it is the reason we signed him last summer. We pushed a lot to bring him here.
“But after the last six months he was not being consistent for different circumstances and for the club, other teams were calling us interested in him. It works for the club now and we have to accept it. Of course, our idea as well is to try and replace him.”