Aston Villa boss Unai Emery says the deal which will see his club sign Borussia Dortmund forward Donyell Malen won’t be completed until Jaden Philogene’s move to the Blues is finalised.
Villa are understood to be paying the Bundesliga club £20 million for 22-year-old Dutch international Malen.
Town and the Villans agreed a £20 million-plus-add-ons fee for long-time Blues target Philogene last Wednesday with the 22-year-old agreeing a four-and-a-half-year deal and passing a medical the following day.
However, the move is still to be confirmed with some details relating to the switch remaining unsettled, but is still expected to go through.
"We are playing Everton tomorrow that’s the most important,” Emery said when quizzed on the situation with Malen at his pre-match press conference.
"But, of course, we are win the transfer window and we are trying to do some movement and we have the possibility to sign Malen. It’s close. We have to try to leave one player and that’s Jaden.”
Asked whether his club would be doing any further business, Emery continued: "We are alert. We want always to be ready to improve our squad with the players. Of course, some players want to leave us for different circumstances as well.
"We are moving forward like I am telling you. From today until last day, of course, if we gave change in one player like Jaden and Malen it’s the first, then maybe two or three players more.”
Philogene has long been a Town target with links first surfacing in the summer of 2023 before the England U21 international moved from Aston Villa to Hull City.
In July last year, the Blues had agreed a joint-deal with the Tigers for the forward and teammate Jacob Greaves with the Philogene side of the proposed move understood to be worth £18 million and the player having agreed personal terms at Portman Road.
However, his former club Villa had 72 hours within which to exercise matching rights as part of the deal they had agreed with the Tigers the previous summer, which they did and Philogene returned to Villa Park for £13 million - the Midlanders also taking advantage of their 30 per cent sell-on - with the forward signing a five-year contract.
But Philogene made only three starts - two in the Premier League - and 11 sub appearances for Villa in the first half of the season and speculation regarding a swift exit began to surface before the January window opened before Town made their move.