Latest Aston Villa news from BirminghamLive as Unai Emery hails Jaden Philogene’s impact during pre-season
Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery admits he has been pleasantly surprised by Jaden Philogene’s performances during pre-season.
The winger has started all four of the club’s pre-season friendlies so far this summer, including each of the Premier League Summer Series games out in the USA. Philogene won a penalty in Villa’s opening friendly of the summer against Walsall at the Bescot, before he then scored against Fulham in Orlando after also catching the eye against Newcastle United in Philadelphia.
The 21-year-old then played 60 minutes against Brentford at the FedExField in Maryland to cap what was a memorable pre-season trip for him on a personal note. There is a high level of interest in Philogene from a number of Championship clubs this summer, but he might well have played his way into Emery’s plans for next season.
Asked if there was a player who had surprised him so far this summer, Emery said: “Jaden is the player with the most positive surprise we are seeing. That’s the reason why he started the three matches in the starting XI and played well.
“He has offers to leave but at the moment we are going to stay with him and we are going to decide, but if he stays in the performance like he is doing, he has possibilities and has potential in our squad for next season.
“Other players are the same, Cameron Archer, he really played very well in Middlesbrough and he scored goals, he also played well against Fulham. Aaron Ramsey, Revan are playing well as well. Other players in the academy are training with us and I like to give young players the possibility to show themselves with us.”
