Former Aston Villa player Jaden Philogene-Bidace still has a future at Villa Park after a clause in his new Hull City contract and it could well be triggered by Unai Emery should his tremendous form continue.
The former Villa academy product joined the Tigers during the summer window for an undisclosed fee [1 September].
It was believed that Philogene wanted more minutes as he continued his rapid development and it didn’t appear to be in West Midlands with Aston Villa open to his departure on a permanent basis.
After joining five years ago, the youngster came through the club’s academy and went on to notch 22 goals in 42 appearances for the youth sides.
He has been out on a couple of loans to gain first-team experience, with his latest spell away from Villa Park coming at Championship side Cardiff City last season, where he scored five goals and laid on one assist in 39 games.
On his return to the Villans, he played in all three of the club’s pre-season matches during their tour of the US and made an appearance in their 5-1 defeat to Newcastle on 12 August before the club made the decision to part ways.
However, his new deal at the MKM Stadium does come with strings attached and one which Emery and the Villans could very well be interested in exploiting after recent form.
Hull City Vice Chairman Tan Kesler revealed [Yahoo Sport, 23 September] soon after Philogene’s move that should the club be promoted next season, Aston Villa have a £15m buy-back option should they wish for his return.
If we’re promoted, Villa will have the right to buy him back for £15m,” explained Kesler.
“If we had another offer of more than £15m, we’d have the right to discuss it. It’s not like we’re forced to sell to Villa but they’d have the first choice.
“That’s part of our agreement.”
Since his summer move, the 21-year-old has truly discovered himself again hitting new levels as Hull City sit just a point outside the play-off spots after 11 games in the Championship.
In his six starts, Philogene has registered one goal and three assists [SofaScore] whilst showcasing why he was highly-regarded at Villa Park and why Aston Villa ultimately felt it was necessary to include the clause in his deal.
So far this season, the Bodymoor Heath graduate has registered three big chances created, topping his expected assists (xA) tally of 1.35, averaging 1.5 key passes per game, a whopping 2.8 tackles and is successfully completing 70% of his dribbles
And on his international debut for the England Under-21s, the 21-year-old sensation bagged two goals and an assist as the European Champions triumphed in a 9-1 thrashing of the Serbia Under-21s on Thursday night.
In his 69 minutes on the pitch, Philogene registered two key passes, won seven of his total duels and completed two of his dribbles whilst registering three goal contributions in a sensational individual showing.
It may be too soon for Aston Villa to trigger the option in his current contract at Hull City but given his spectacular form right now plus more crucially, Villa’s lack of specialist out-an-out wingers in the team, it won’t be a surprise to see Philogene-Bidace make a homecoming return to Villa Park.
Who knows, he may not have emptied his locker at Bodymoor Heath completely.
