Aston Villa left ruing MAJOR transfer error by Liverpool target

Cameron Smith

• Updated: 13 Feb 2024 22:24 GMT
• 4 min read

Jaden Philogene has left Aston Villa bitterly regretting their decision to sell him to Hull City last summer.

The England U21 international was sold by Unai Emery’s side for €5.8m on Transfer Deadline Day after making just six senior appearances for the club he joined as a 16-year-old.

Since then, Philogene has excelled and has been one of the Championship’s most dangerous attackers.

The 22-year-old has seven goals and five assists in just 16 league games this campaign and has now gone viral after a deflection saw him denied a Puskas contender.

During Hull’s trip away to Rotherham on February 13, Philogene burst down the right-hand side of the penalty area, nutmegged Oliver Rathbone, Cruyff-turned inside and then produced a fantastic rabona finish.

The clip has circulated social media, but unfortunately for Philogene, the goal was credited as a Cameron Humphreys own goal. Philogene’s rabona strike deflected off Humphreys and looped over Viktor Johansson in the Rotherham goal.

The deflection was missed by many, but Philogene was not given the goal in a crushing blow for the player.

However, that fact doesn’t take away from just how good Philogene has been so far this campaign. The Englishman hasn’t featured much since the start of December due to injury, but he has proven that he is far too good for Championship football this season.

With Aston Villa linked with a move for Nico Williams, signing a new winger is evidently somewhat of a priority in 2024. As a result, the premature sale of Philogene will be looked at with regret.

Aston Villa left regretting Jaden Philogene sale

Philogene was one of several Villa academy stars to leave the club in 2023, with Emery sanctioning the permanent departures of Cameron Archer and Aaron Ramsey as well.

However, Philogene has performed the best since leaving Villa Park.

His pace and trickery are sublime, while he combines technical quality with an end product that is often missing with speedy wingers.

While Philogene is flying at Hull, Moussa Diaby has somewhat flatlined at Aston Villa.

The Frenchman joined Emery’s side from Bayer Leverkusen last summer and after a promising start to life in England, he has one goal and zero assists in his last 10 Premier League games, with Leon Bailey replacing him in the preferred starting XI.

Diaby is an excellent player and will re-find his form in the Midlands, but his recent struggles suggest that keeping Philogene would’ve been a sensible idea, especially given Villa are contending with European football this season.

Liverpool were interested in signing Philogene last summer, before he joined Hull, as reported by Anfield Watch, which proves just how highly-rated the youngster is.

Villa did include a €17.6m (£15m) buy-back clause in Philogene's move to Hull City, but that will only become active if the Tigers are promoted back to the English top flight, something that could happen this season as they are currently seventh in the Championship table.

However, Hull face competition from some of the division's best sides and would be underdogs for promotion even if they reach the play-offs.

Villa have been shrewd operators in the transfer market in recent years, but selling Philogene now looks like an extremely poor decision.