Scouting report on Everton target Jaden Philogene

Yesterday at 04:00 AM

The previously linked Aston Villa winger may be the first player brought in by The Friedkin Group

The latest player to be linked with Everton this January is Aston Villa's young winger Jaden Philogene. Everton had attempted to bring the young English forward to the club last summer and recent reports suggest that the Blues are going back to try and get a permanent deal done.

Initially, the discussion was for a loan but with both Jack Harrison and Armando Broja filling the slots on the team for loan players, the requirement of a purchase now looks to be the way forward.

Profile & Background

The 22 year old was an Aston Villa academy player who was sent out on loans to both Stoke and Cardiff before finding a home at Hull City in 2024. Last season, he scored 12 goals in 32 Championship appearances for Hull, sparking a race for his signature that also included Everton and Ipswich.

Villa had a buy back clause in Philogene's transfer to Hull and when it was obvious that his stock was on the rise, Villa entered the picture after both Everton and Ipswich had met Hull's valuation to bring the young winger back into the fold. They ended up only needing to spend £13M with Hull inserting a sell on clause.

Upon his return to Villa, Philogene said:

"It feels amazing, it's like I'm back at home. Unai spoke to me face-to-face and we had a very good conversation about my playing time. He said I did well when I was here in pre-season last year and that I'm going to get chances this time. It also depends on me and how I play."

This year has seen Philogene get very limited opportunities. He has only had 3 full games, one in each of the Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup. The remainder of his 10 appearances were as a substitute with only 270 minutes under his belt.

This has given Everton the chance to try again to get their man and when Unai Emery met the media today, he had changed his tune regarding Philogene:

"My conversation was always to be patient, take time to improve things. The adaptation is going slower than we wanted, but still in my mind the objective is to improve and help us here. Now it is January, it could be an option for him and the squad to let him leave."

Analysis

Philogene can play across the front line and had his greatest success on the left side. Flexibility seems to be another characteristic that Thelwell is looking for in the players that he is tracking. The dynamism of Philogene would be an area that Everton want to help improve their attack which has been insipid this season.

Philogene has all the physical hallmarks of a dangerous winger, from blistering pace to rapid agility. His technical skills are just as dangerous to opposing defenders. Jaden's average position is out wide, and predominantly on the left side of attack, his plethora of skills allow him to take up a central position and cause as many problems against a number of defenders in central areas rather just one, in a 1v1 situation.

All of this would allow the Everton attack to be more balanced. He has been mostly played on the left side but is two footed and has played on the right and through the middle. He is another flexible attacker who Thelwell prefers to buy and is similar to Ndiaye in many ways.

Current Contract

Transfer Market has Philogene valued at £12.4M which is down from the reported £18M that Aston Villa had paid to get him back from Hull. He had signed a five year contract and his salary this past season was £40,000 per week.

Potential of Transfer

Chances of it happening: 85%
Do I want it to happen: 85%
Do we need it to happen: 100%

In what should have been a more calm transfer window after the recent takeover by TFG, this has been undermined by the team's current malaise on the field. Initially, TFG wanted to pick up a couple of players and take their time to select a new CEO who would then assess the future prospects of Director of Football Kevin Thelwell. The hope was to keep Dyche in place until the end of his contract in June and then select a long term successor to lead the team into the new stadium.

With pressure on Dyche building and the recent calls for him to be sacked sooner rather than later, it is making the TFG plans to be shuffled. In order to prevent a relegation to the Championship, there have been links made to David Moyes and conversations have also taken place with Graham Potter.

In all of this, the transfer window is open and the work being done by Thelwell must continue. Philogene was a target in the summer and it is not surprising that his name has surfaced again. Clearly, Thelwell is being trusted at this point. What is not known is how any linked managers are being included in these conversations, if at all.

There seem to be many moving pieces in this potential move which will give us our first glimpse at how the new ownership will get this over the line. It is not our only area of need and one player will not solve the issues but this could be another important building block that will get even more important when we have a manager who has some interest in attacking.