The Tigers are understood to be closing in on a stunning deal for the high-flying winger
Jaden Philogene has enjoyed a slightly different rise from academy football to Premier League player with Aston Villa, and now, is on the verge of a move to Hull City.
The ambitious Championship club are in talks with Villa over a permanent move for the 21-year-old winger which could be wrapped up this week before the Tigers entertain Bristol City under the MKM Stadium lights on Friday evening,
After leaving Brentford as a teenager, Philogene was picked up by the Pro:Direct Academy in 2018, but shortly after his arrival there, he was on his way to Birmingham and Villa’s academy system.
Wasting no time in taking his chance to catch the eye at Bodymoor Heath and was handed his debut at Tottenham Hotspur in May 2021, before going on to have loan spells at Stoke City and Cardiff City, as well as collecting caps for England’s Under-19s and Under-20s.
READ MORE: Hull City launch ambitious transfer bid for Aston Villa starlet Jaden Philogene
Philogene was handed a chance to impress in pre-season this summer by Unai Emery and did just that, playing in all three of their friendlies in the USA, a privilege only three other players were afforded, and scored a goal against Fulham to emphasise what a talent he is.
He then came off the bench to impress in a short cameo in Villa’s opening Premier League game of the season at Newcastle United, although it admittedly ended in defeat, and then found himself out of the squad for Sunday’s thumping 4-0 win over Everton as his move to City nears.
Speaking to BirminghamLive earlier this summer, Pro:Direct Academy manager Danny Payne gave a fascinating insight into what City fans can expect, should the Tigers complete a move for a player that will add significant strength to their quest to join Villa in the Premier League next season.
“He plays like he would with his mates on the streets and that’s how he plays his game today. Without doubt, he was one of the most talented players we have had in our academy,” he said.
“He had a natural talent in possession and he had a great ability to get past players and beat them. He had an ability to create chances, which sounds simple but it’s very, very difficult because the detail of his play was excellent.”
“Jaden was part of the Brentford academy until it folded and then he spent time on trial at a number of clubs,” Payne added. “One of our former coaches, who was involved with Norwich for a period, had Jaden as part of a Norwich centre in London and then he came across to us while he was trialling at other clubs.
“We fully supported him going on trial and I think he got to a point where he wanted to be settled and start enjoying his football again. That’s when he came across to us at Pro:Direct at our central London hub.
“The thing with Jaden was that we knew he was by far one of the most talented players we’ve ever had but it was about making sure we could continually challenge him, and I think that’s what we did really well.
“We always tried to play him with the older lads and always tried to put him up with the second-year boys and make sure he was playing with them. In terms of a player, he would play wide left and that was his best position for us, obviously where he plays for Villa now and he had that great ability to beat players on the inside or the outside.
“He showed excellent end product and statistics in terms of goals and assists in his time with us, he was an all-round, really, really good kid.
“There were always teams aware of him and plenty of teams coming to watch him. He went on trial to a couple of clubs at the start of the year but there was always interest in Jaden, always scouts watching him and building reports on him. He chose Villa at a time where there were a few other clubs interested.
“It comes down to how that player wants to apply themselves day to day and that was the thing with Jaden, when it came to his football he loved it. We use him as an example a lot because although he loved it and always played with a smile on his face, he wanted to win and he wanted to be the best. In training we use that example to other players, talking about Jaden’s will to win and desire to be the best.
“It was no surprise really that he moved on because as coaches we had to be quite hard on him to make sure he continued with his levels, it was obvious that he was so talented, we just had to make sure we could keep getting more and more out of him as we possibly could.
“He was a typical 16-year-old, ups and downs as you’d expect, sometimes happy, sometimes with the world on his shoulders but when it came to his football, always trying to nutmeg people when he was meant to be listening and a really good lad.
“A really bubbly lad around the place, he was always enthusiastic, gave it his all in training and matchdays, it got to a point where it was too easy for him if I’m honest.
“For me, whether they like it or not, they’re behind scholars, where they want to be and they’re behind professional footballers when they come to us.
“That’s just the reality of it so I think that they always have to do more than what a scholar would and what a professional footballer would do to get their chance.
“We’re not a professional football club, we know that, but we try to run our sites as close to a professional academy as possible. But essentially it comes down to the player wanting to go above and beyond to do the work and earn that recognition, it’s not easy at that age especially for an Under-19 or Under-17 to get signed.
“That unfortunately is the reality of it because when you’re older people will question whether you can play for the first-team whereas at Under-12 level for example, they can work with that player for longer.
“We’re just excited as an academy to play a small part in his huge journey, and we are only a small part of it, he was only with us for a short spell which is important to understand, but we’re excited to see what he continues to do, checking in on him every week.”
