Matt Maher and Jonny Drury discuss the news that Aston Villa have activated a clause allowing them to match any future offers from Premier League clubs.
Philogene left Villa for Hull last season for £5m and after a superb season is attracting Premier League interest.
Ipswich have had an £18m bid accepted - and Villa have now activated their match clause in a bid to bring him back to Villa Park.
Matt discusses the latest development and how likely it is the winger will return to the club.
Philogene left Villa for Hull last season for £5m and after a superb season is attracting Premier League interest.
Ipswich have had an £18m bid accepted - and Villa have now activated their match clause in a bid to bring him back to Villa Park.
Matt discusses the latest development and how likely it is the winger will return to the club.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Matt, news has emerged this week that regarding Jadon Fillerjean, who left Villa last summer,
00:12went to Hull City, had a very good season in the Championship, is subject of international
00:17mixture. It's time a bid has been accepted by Hull, an £18m bid. But Villa, as was I
00:23think explained when the deal went through last summer, they had a sort of buy-back clause,
00:27buy-back option in there, which they seem to have exercised. I know it's been written
00:34that Unai Emery was sort of a big fan of Fillerjean when he came in. What have you made of this
00:38sort of development and what do you believe his chances might be of returning to Villa
00:43Park?
00:44It's difficult to say. He's a player they didn't want to lose last summer. Unai Emery
00:49was keen for him to stay. But it was very much Fillerjean's decision to go. He wanted
00:56more regular game time than he was going to get at Villa. So he went to Hull in a deal
01:01that did help Villa out in terms of profit and sustainability, but not that much. I mean,
01:07the Aaron Ramsey and Cameron Archer deals were far more lucrative, particularly the Ramsey one.
01:15So the deal that sent him to Hull included not a buy-back clause, but kind of a matching
01:22clause, which meant if any Premier League club bid for him, then Villa would be notified
01:30by Hull and have a certain amount of time to match the bid, which they have done today.
01:41That until the end of today, Wednesday, to enact the clause. So that's what they've done.
01:47You know, ultimately now it's down to, you know, Fillerjean. It looks like he's got a few
01:54options, doesn't it? Perhaps not Barcelona, as was mentioned at one stage last week.
01:59But certainly, you know, Ipswich, Villa and Everton as well, you know, very keen to get him.
02:09Yeah, I think he's watched his space at the minute. You know, he's clearly, you know,
02:14obviously last summer would have been a big decision to leave Villa, you know, the club that
02:18he, you know, came up to the ranks, you know, and just at that point where he looked like he was
02:23going to be breaking into the first team, you know, he played. He came on as a substitute in
02:26the 5-1 defeat at Newcastle, was involved in pre-season. So he probably would have got
02:32opportunities, you know, last year. You know, obviously since then, Leon Bailey, you know,
02:38on the right wing has, you know, kind of transformed his Villa career. So I mean,
02:44Fillerjean may look at that and think, well, actually it's even a harder job now because,
02:48you know, last year you were looking at, you know, Bailey's future was uncertain. I mean,
02:53now he's one of the first names on the team sheet. So to play every week, he's got to almost get him
02:59out of the team. But then it's, you know, the decision whether he goes to Ipswich,
03:05where he might get, you know, more game time, but could end up back in the Championship
03:10in 12 months, or Everton. I mean, it's interesting. Yeah, it's very complex.
03:20Difficult to, you know, difficult to predict really, you know, get inside. It's difficult,
03:26impossible to get inside, you know, his head and work out what he's going to do.
03:29But I mean, Uno Emery kind of, you know, would love to have him back at Villa. So
03:34Villa have got the offer, you know, Champions League football. So we shall see.
03:40You know, it's another winger, and they've got plenty of wingers at the minute. I mean,
03:44they're overloaded with wide players on the left, almost. But following that, you know,
03:49there was Simon Lewis-Dobbin from Everton earlier in the summer. But, you know, yeah,
03:54he's a player that they like, and that they would like to bring back if possible.