Aston Villa activate clause amid Everton and Ipswich race for Philogene - report

Aston Villa have activated their matching rights clause for Jaden Philogene with Everton still in the race to sign him, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The transfer specialist reported via X on 10 July that the Villans have matched Ipswich Town’s bid for the Hull City winger, with Crystal Palace also still “insisting” alongside the Toffees and the Tractor Boys.

If Hull now receive any higher offers than the one already accepted from Portman Road it will be up to Villa to decide whether to also match that.

Ipswich’s bid for the 22-year-old winger is reportedly worth £18million according to David Ornstein in The Athletic (9 July), while The Times’ Paul Joyce has reported that Everton had a £16m agreement in place with the Tigers.

Everton want to sign Hull City winger amid heavy competition

Romano himself (3 July) had claimed that the race for Philogene would not descend into a transfer saga but it appears to be heading that way with the number of twists that continue to emerge.

Philogene ruled out a Barcelona move as he preferred to head to the Premier League, and it appeared at one point on Tuesday (9 July) that Sean Dyche was set for his fourth signing of the summer with the Toffees in line to win the fight for the wide man [BBC Sport].

But Ipswich had seemingly forced themselves back into the driving seat when Ornstein reported a medical was being lined up, after doing the same another Everton target in Hull teammate Jacob Greaves.

Now that Unai Emery’s side have joined the equation it could change things entirely as they are the first English top flight side involved who can offer Champions League football.

Whether Philogene’s previous experience at Villa Park, where he came through the youth ranks but only made six first-team appearances, makes him more or less likely to favour a return could go either way.

But the prospect of completing unfinished business while featuring in the premier European competition might be something Dyche and Kevin Thelwell are unable to compete with.

In other Everton news, Alan Myers has shared an update on potential issues regarding Dan Friedkin’s takeover.

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