Just 11 months after selling him to Hull City, Aston Villa look set to buy Jaden Philogene back. He had a great season in the Championship, but is he ready to make the step up?
Plenty of fun was poked at Berto Camacho earlier this month when rumours spread that he had turned up unannounced at Barcelona’s training ground to encourage a move for his client. Weeks later, it looks like that client, Jaden Philogene, will be playing top-flight football next season for a Spanish manager after all, only back at Aston Villa after being reunited with Unai Emery.
Both Everton and Premier League new boys Ipswich Town were rumoured to be close to securing Philogene’s signature, but Aston Villa look set to complete his re-signing after letting him leave for Hull City permanently at the end of last year’s summer transfer window.
It’ll be a quick return to top-flight football for the exciting forward, who played in Villa’s opening-day defeat to Newcastle last season as a late substitute. In truth, that return is richly deserved after he enjoyed a great campaign at Hull in the Championship in 2023-24.
Voted their Young Player of the Season, Philogene ended the campaign as Hull’s top scorer in all competitions with 12 goals, while he also assisted the most (6) within the squad. One of those goals – scored away at Rotherham and dubiously awarded to him by the EFL, despite a clear deflection – showed the excitement that the 22-year-old winger can provide, with a ridiculous rabona attempt in a game that they eventually came from behind to win.
This wasn’t his only outrageous goal, either – he scored a cheeky backheel in the home game against Rotherham, too. Both won their respective goal of the month awards in the competition.
Alongside moments of individual brilliance, Philogene was one of the most threatening ball carriers in the Championship last season. He averaged 17.3 ball carries per 90 minutes, the sixth highest figure of any winger or forward in the competition, while his end product from those carries caused constant issues for opponents.
On a per-90 basis, Philogene attempted a league-high 1.8 shots from carries in 2023-24, the highest figure among every player in the Championship to play at least 900 minutes. He also led the league for shot involvements following ball carries (either a shot or a chance created for a teammate), with an average of 2.7 per 90.
Overall, 83 of his 540 carries ended with a shot involvement (15.4%).
A threat on either wing, Philogene spent 64% of this playing time in the Championship last season on the left, cutting inside on his favoured right foot, but the remaining time saw him play on the right side of Hull City’s midfield or attack.
Cutting inside from the left proved very fruitful for Philogene, and that move led to a lot of shots, including four of his five goals scored following a ball carry in the Championship.
Although stronger with his right foot, Philogene wasn’t averse to shooting with his left. Overall, he was one of only five Championship players to attempt at least 30 shots with both his left foot (32) and right foot (83) last season, alongside Adam Armstrong, Haji Wright, Conor Chaplin and Georginio Rutter.
Furthermore, Philogene averaged 6.4 take-ons per 90, a figure bettered by just four players to play at least 1,500 minutes: Siriki Dembélé (8.1), Jack Clarke (7.6), Rutter (7.2) and Patrick Roberts (6.8). His 5.6 per 90 within the opposition’s half also ranked fifth best in the Championship last term.
Hull will be losing their most creative player of the campaign, too. All 52 of his chances created came from open play, with both this tally and his expected assists (xA) total of 5.0 the highest across their squad. In fact, he either attempted (116) or was the creator (52) of 168 of Hull’s Championship shots last season – contributing over a quarter of their entire total (27.2%).
After representing England at under-19 and under-20 level, Philogene’s good club form saw him handed an under-21 debut by Lee Carsley in October 2023, scoring twice against Serbia in their European Championship qualifier to further increase his stock.
Seven of his 12 league goals came before his 22nd birthday in February, while only two players in the entire league had scored more while aged 22 and under: Leeds star Crysencio Summerville (20) and Plymouth Argyle’s Morgan Whittaker (13).
His 12 goals came from shots totalling 7.5 expected goals (xG), with his overperformance of non-penalty xG (+4.5) the sixth highest in the Championship. That’s clearly a good thing, but does suggest that Philogene benefitted from some above-average finishing on his own part that might not be sustainable.
He does have a propensity to shoot from less-than-ideal positions; he was one of seven Championship players to register 50+ shots from outside the box last season (51) and he only managed to net twice from distance. Of the 28 Championship players to register at least double figures for non-penalty goals in the 2023-24 campaign, only Norwich City’s Gabriel Sara (0.064) – who scored four goals from outside the 18-yard box – had a lower xG per non-penalty shot than Philogene (0.065).
The winger’s volume of shots was excellent overall, though, averaging 3.7 shots per 90 minutes in the second tier. Fellow young star Whittaker (3.8) – who is also linked with Premier League clubs this summer – was the only player to average more among those to play 900+ minutes.
Aston Villa are a club that have had success in signing players from the Championship in the past. Ezri Konsa, Matty Cash, Emiliano Buendía and Ollie Watkins were all brought into the club following impressive campaigns in the English second tier, while they raided Middlesbrough for Morgan Rogers last season. Of course, Philogene isn’t exactly an unknown for them, having only left last August; he also spent three years in their academy after arriving as a 16-year-old in January 2018.
Philogene looks set to be swapping the Championship for the Champions League, with Aston Villa qualifying for the competition for the first time in its current guise following an exceptional fourth-place finish last season.
Reports suggest Moussa Diaby may be leaving the club this summer, so the Hull City winger could be an ideal replacement for him. Needless to say, Villa will need plenty of squad depth in 2024-25, with Newcastle showing the negative impact Champions League football can have when combined with domestic competition last season. The new Champions League format will see every team play at least eight games in the league phase before February as well.
In triggering a matching clause included in their deal to sell Philogene to Hull last summer for £5m, Villa now look set to pay £13m more than they received for his transfer in August 2023 following Ipswich’s recent £18 million bid for the 22-year-old. The price brings a certain pressure to the youngster, but based on his confident performances in the Championship last season, it’s something he’ll have no problem dealing with.
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