Jaden Philogene Deal to Ipswich Reaches Medical Stage
Aston Villa have begun the necessary off-loading of fringe players to give them PSR breathing space to enter the January transfer window by offloading Jaden Philogene to Ipswich Town for a reported £21m with add-ons. Philogene is expected to have a medical on Thursday morning.
Philogene hadn’t exactly stepped up to the plate on his return to Villa and Unai Emery more than hinted at his recent pre-match press conference before the Leicester City game, a move looked likely.
“He has potential. He didn’t show his potential the first six months being here with us, but for different circumstances,” said Emery. “He played minutes, he played some important matches like against Bayern Munich and Manchester United.”
It’s been reported that Everton were also in serious pursuit of the winger. However, Ipswich had already lined up an £18m move for the player last summer before Villa swooped in, leveraging a matching rights clause they retained from his initial sale to Hull in 2023. Additionally, with a 30% sell-on clause baked into the deal, Villa ensured that as long as Philogene held his value, they could effectively “flip” him for profit.
Other January Business
If Villa are to bring in players during the January window like Celta Vigo right-back Oscar Mingueza, then fringe player sales were always going to be needed. The sale of Louie Barry would certainly give Emery and Monchi more PSR wiggle room. While the mooted sale of Diego Carlos to Fenerbahce could be considered questionable at this stage with the recent injury to Pau Torres. It would leave Emery with just two fit senior centre-backs, if the Brazilian left, so he’d need cover to come in.
Watch this space. Certainly with Villa’s PSR situation, transfer windows are now turning into a game within a game.
UTV
