da brwin： Aston Villa have enjoyed a phenomenal start to the 2023/24 campaign and picked up their 12th successive Premier League home wins, stretching back to last term, with a 3-0 win over Luton Town on Sunday.
da esoccer bet： The Villans are pushing up towards the Champions League places as Unai Emery looks to build on an impressive first season with the Midlands outfit.
Their impressive transfer business over the summer window has allowed them to push on as the likes of Moussa Diaby and Pau Torres have caught the eye since their respective moves to the club.
The French wizard, in particular, has hit the ground running in England with three goals and three assists in ten Premier League appearances for Villa since his switch from Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen.
He was brought in for a reported club-record transfer fee of £51.9m and is already starting to show why the Villans and Emery were willing to splash the cash on his services.
The left-footed whiz has showcased his attacking quality on a regular basis but another exciting forward player, who plays on the opposite flank, could have been shining in a Villa shirt this season – Jaden Philogene.
Emery allowed the talented youngster to leave the club on a permanent basis over the summer and it already looks like the Spaniard had a mare with that decision as his performances this season suggest that he is on the way to becoming Jack Grealish 2.0.
The fee Hull paid for Jaden Philogene
The Birmingham Mail reported that Hull City secured the England U21 international's services for a fee within the region of £5m during the summer transfer window.
Two of his former Villa academy teammates were also sold by the club ahead of the 2023/24 campaign as Aaron Ramsey joined Premier League rivals Burnley for £14m and Cameron Archer completed an £18.5m switch to Sheffield United.
Philogene was coming off the back of a season on loan with Cardiff City during the 2022/23 campaign. He racked up four goals and one assist in 25 outings for the Welsh outfit and failed to deliver quality in the final third on a regular basis, which may have contributed to the decision to cash in on him.
Hull vice-chairman Tan Kesler has, however, confirmed that the Villans have an interesting buy-back agreement in place with the Championship side.
He confirmed that Villa have the option to buy him back for a fixed fee of £15m but only if the Tigers are promoted to the Premier League. The chief also revealed that his club are able to listen to offers from other teams that are above £15m but Philogene's former side have the first refusal on a deal.
This suggests that there is still wiggle room for other teams to swoop in if Hull are not promoted or if they bid in excess of £15m. It would also be up to the player to decide whether or not he would want to return after being sold over the summer.
The stats that show why selling Philogene may have been a mistake
Philogene's form for club and country throughout the 2023/24 campaign so far suggests that the Villans cashed in on him too quickly as he appears to be on his way to becoming Jack Grealish 2.0.
HITC's Alfie recently lauded him as "special" and claimed that he has the potential to be better than the likes of Andy Robertson, Harry Maguire, and Jarrod Bowen, who had all starred for Hull previously.
This is incredibly high praise when you consider that Bowen has 24 goals and 19 assists since the start of the 2021/22 Premier League campaign, Maguire was bought for £80m by Manchester United from Leicester in 2019, and Robertson has won the top-flight and the Champions League with Liverpool.
The plaudits coming his way are flooding in because of his outstanding performances for Hull and England's U21 side as he has showcased his ability to score and create goals as a right-footed left winger at Championship, as Grealish did before his breakthrough at the top level.
Philogene has contributed with three goals and four assists in nine second tier starts for the Tigers so far this season, to go along with two goals and one assist in two appearances for his country.
The 21-year-old magician has also displayed his ball-carrying ability with 3.2 completed dribbles per game at Championship level, which shows that he can commit and beat opposition players on a regular basis.
Jack Grealish's Championship form for Villa
During his last season in the second division with the club, Grealish produced six goals and six assists in 31 league starts to win promotion under Dean Smith.
As a right-footed left winger, like Philogene, the English forward completed 1.7 dribbles per game as he was able to produce goals, assists, and progressive play in possession with regularity.
Grealish followed that up with 14 goals and 16 assists and at least two dribbles completed per match across the next two Premier League campaigns and that earned him a £100m British record transfer to Manchester City in 2021.
The England international was able to make the step up to the Premier League after his impressive Championship displays as a winger who could score and assist goals whilst also being an impressive dribbler and constant menace to opposition defenders.
The next step for Philogene
In order to follow in Grealish's footsteps and be the next version of the former Villa superstar, Philogene must now remain consistent throughout the rest of this season and continue to provide goals and assists.
The young ace must then showcase his ability in the top-flight, if provided the opportunity to do so, and step up to that level and influence games week-in-week-out with his match-winning potential.
His current form for Hull and England suggests that he is well on the right path to doing just that and that is why Emery had a mare by sanctioning a £5m sale earlier this year.
The best case scenario, if Philogene does develop into the new Grealish, is that Villa buy him back for £15m next summer and that means they would have essentially paid a staggering £10m to send him to the Tigers for one season.
Or, another team could swoop in and convince him to reject a homecoming and he could go on to be a star for another Premier League outfit, or another side in Europe, which is why selling him may have been a mistake.