Town’s protracted deal to sign Aston Villa forward Jaden Philogene has moved a step closer to completion with the Midlanders having confirmed the signing of Borussia Dortmund’s Donyell Malen and with the player having been pictured in Suffolk.
Earlier today, Villa boss Unai Emery indicated that finalising the Malen deal was dependent on Philogene’s departure to the Blues going through.
Villa are understood to be paying the Bundesliga club £20 million for 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.
However, the deal had stalled with some details relating to the switch remaining unsettled, but with the expectation that it would eventually get done.
Malen’s signing having been confirmed would appear to suggest that those aspects of the move have now been completed and Town an announcement is finally close.
Separately, there are Philogene appears to have been pictured at Milsoms, Kesgrave this evening.
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.