Aston Villa have confirmed the re-signing of Blues target Jaden Philogene.

Town agreed a fee of £18 million for the winger early last week with the move looking set to go through until Villa activated a matching clause included in the deal which saw the 22-year-old move to the Tigers for £5 million last summer.

And ultimately the former England U21 international opted for a return to Villa Park, signing a five-year deal.

Due to a 30 per cent sell-on from last year’s switch, Villa are understood to have paid £13 million for the forward, who was also believed to be interesting a number of other clubs, among them Everton, Crystal Palace, West Ham and even Barcelona.

“It feels amazing, it’s like I’m back at home,” he told the Villa club site. “[Manager] Unai [Emery] spoke to me face-to-face and we had a very good conversation about my playing time.

“He said I did well when I was here in pre-season last year and that I’m going to get chances this time. It also depends on me and how I play.”

He added: “It’s the latest chapter in my Villa journey and hopefully I can play my best, get game time and do it in front of the fans.

“What I did at Hull, I want to do the same things at Villa Park; make the fans aware of my skills and score goals.

“It’s a dream come true. When I was a little boy I wanted to play in the Champions League. I’ve always thought I want to be there one day and here I am.”

Photo: Sipa USA

GatesofDelirium added 18:12 - Jul 19 Philogene is a very good player, an England U21 international with tremendous potential - KM wouldn't have wanted him otherwise. Villa obviously rate him too. It would have been wonderful to see him play for us but it's understandable he's gone back to the club that "feels like home" especially when they're in the Champions League. I hope it works out for him there and that he's not loaned out in January - unless we need a left sided forward in the New Year...

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Bert added 18:13 - Jul 19 It’ not for us to reason why he chose Villa. I’m sure he will get a good reception at Portman Road.
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victorysquad added 19:04 - Jul 19 The sensible thing to do is to keep the communication lines open and if villa does not work out then we should maintain healthy relations with the lad It is likely he lives near to villa too if he grew up in his academy
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TimmyH added 20:13 - Jul 19 Still some areas ned strengthening, central Midfield/Defence and another Striker/wide player...lets move on/
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tetchris added 21:08 - Jul 19 Why didn’t Villa just loan him to hull last summer. Really poor financial decision. Seems really strange business
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BonchosBicycle added 02:31 - Jul 20 Sounds like he had the choice didn't particularly want to be here. Fine. We want people committed to the club.
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cardinaldom88 added 07:33 - Jul 20 It sounds like the lad is where he actually wants to be, so no hard feelings on that score for me. The lure of potential Champions League football is always going to sway the judgement. Good luck to him and I hope he gets what he was looking for. I’m sure ITFC have moved on already. It does make me wonder though as Hell paid £5 million, the buy back clause means that they get £13m. So it seems to me that they are actually £8m ahead on this one.

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BobbyBell added 09:00 - Jul 20 Good luck to the lad and I hope it works out for him however my gut says that he's more likely to regret this than we are.
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