Town are again eyeing summer target Jaden Philogene as they look to strengthen during the January transfer window.

In July, the Blues had agreed a joint-deal with Hull City for forward Philogene and teammate Jacob Greaves with the Philogene side of the proposed move understood to be worth £18 million with the player understood to have agreed personal terms at Portman Road.

However, his former club Aston 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 since then the England U21 international has made only three starts - two in the Premier League - and 11 sub appearances and Villa look set to allow him to move out during January, on loan rather than on a permanent basis with a number of clubs believed to be interested.

Sky Sports is reporting that the Blues remain keen on Philogene and are monitoring the situation and we understand that this is the case.

Another forward is an obvious Town target during January along with a central striker and probably a right-back.

Londoner Philogene initially joined Villa’s youth set-up from the Pro:Direct Academy and spent spells on loan with Stoke and Cardiff City prior to making his £5 million switch to Hull in the summer of 2023 when he was also interesting Town.

Meanwhile, reports of a move for Middlesbrough striker Emmanuel Latte Lath are understood to be speculation based on the Blues’ summer interest in the Ivorian.

Photo: IMAGO/Pro Sports Images via Reuters Connect

stiffy501 added 13:12 - Jan 2 Did'nt want to come here then so why go back, just ended up in a long drawn out saga and will again i fear.
1

mathiemagic added 13:14 - Jan 2 No thanks.
7

joyousblue added 13:15 - Jan 2 Yes please
0

Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 13:17 - Jan 2 Not sure he didn't want to come. He had agreed terms, but Villa exercised their contractual right to bring him back. If K McK has seen something in him, that's good enough for me.
54

RegencyBlue added 13:17 - Jan 2 Could be something to this because McKenna has form for continuing to pursue players he’s been interested in. Need any deal done quickly though, no repeat of the summer window farce!
14

durhamj added 13:22 - Jan 2 He obviously didn’t want to come. No one forced him to sign for Villa, they simply had the opportunity to and he took it. No thanks
-11

gkroon89 added 13:36 - Jan 2 Is he better than Broadhead/Clarke/Szmodics? If we go down (I say if and hope it is not so), would he not just be another attacking midfielder on top of what we have already without being better? Unless he can play right wing not sure why we would look to bring him in. Even at right wing we have Burns and Ogbene will be back next season. With the possible new formation suiting us better, do we even need another wide attacking player? RB and STR is probably the positions we only really need to really buy for.

4

Leejames99 added 13:39 - Jan 2 I think he will arrive on a permenant and Villa make a tidy profit which I suggested would always be the case, Villa sold him to Hull for 5 Mill, bought hin back for 15 Mill and will sell him for 20 Mill as he had 30% discount meaning they make 5 million profit, very clever business to have a left winger and J Clarke as sub for him. Philogene on left, Hutchinson on right with Delap be great pace on break. Exciting watching team grow. I wonder if we go in for Nick Pope if Newcastle get Trafford. Thoughts on strikers? COYB

4

BathwickBlue added 13:40 - Jan 2 Why does most people think he didn’t want to come here?!? Aston Villa exercised their matching rights and probably sold him the world, more money and CL football. Give the guy a break, would be a proper signing
25

scooby added 13:46 - Jan 2 No thanks. He has provided absolutely nothing for villa this season and with all the games they play. The fact that he has not should tell you all you need to know. I couldnt sit here and say we have better. But he is no better than we already have
-3

Nutkins_Return added 13:48 - Jan 2 Love people on here being bitter about a young lad choosing to back himself and play at the top end of the Prem and champions League over us. Anyone other than a diehard town fan would make that same decision. The lad was more than happy to join us but got a genuinely better offer. Same as nay other walk of life. Don't be so ridiculous.
26

Kickingblock added 13:50 - Jan 2 Could be good. A loan here would mean that he can have his cake and eat it. I do get the -ve posts above, and the thinking behind them. He could well have gone with "the best advice" he was given at the time. He did a full pre season, played in the prem. and experienced European football. If he's still on the wanted list, It's a deal worth pursuing.
3

algy added 13:51 - Jan 2 Another Championship player, we signed more than enough of them in the summer.
-17

MickMillsTash added 13:56 - Jan 2 I don't know anything about him but think we need a wide player to come into the squad. Have no knowledge on what happened over the summer but it's not like he went to Norwich instead of us and Villa were playing Champions league football if he comes on loan does that complete our Premier League quota?
1

dirtydingusmagee added 13:58 - Jan 2 Think as a loan its not a bad move , Has a bit to prove imo.
9

Cakeman added 14:01 - Jan 2 Nothing against the chap but I’m not sure he is what we need at this time. Need a couple of experienced heads to help us pull away from the drop zone even if they are loan players. Youngsters learning their trade may not be the answer. We have enough of those already.
11

Dissboyitfc added 14:03 - Jan 2 Although Villa had Matching rights, the player would have to accept the move, so would’ve his choice however I don’t see that as any kick in the teeth, not at all. This is similar to George Hirst, refusing us and joining Blackburn, then seeing the error of his ways! If Kieron wants him then so do I.
10

gkroon89 added 14:07 - Jan 2 Not able to loan. Premiership teams can only register 2 loan players at any one time unfortunately. So unless we can buy Cajuste early, then we can’t loan anyone in. As Cajuste has a buy clause if we stay up - I am guessing it’s probably a locked in season loan. Although different, I would be surprised if Phillips wasn’t locked into a season long loan also. Leaves us with permanent buys.

3

baxterbasics added 14:07 - Jan 2 Those claiming he didn't want to come here - did you actually read and understand the story? Do agree though that he might not be what we need. But if Keiran decides otherwise who are we to argue!?
7

billlm added 14:21 - Jan 2 Durhamj, really, he was there as a youth had only left one season, and they qualified for Europe, if he agreed terms he wanted to come, villa was probably the only team who could have stopped this,
1

poet added 14:22 - Jan 2 If McKenna can see that he’s worth pursuing then that says a lot. He may not be doing that well at Villa, but McKenna is a proven coach who can extract the very best from players.
3

Len_Brennan added 14:22 - Jan 2 He had agreed terms here, so he clearly wanted to come. Then, his former/parent club, who are in the Champions League & had a preferential clause inserted in his contract, came forward to exercise that clause, with the manager (multi Europa Cup winner) saying positive things about him & his potential gametime. Yes he, under advice from his agent, ultimately put pen to paper for Villa, but honestly, under such circumstances, with no prior attachment to Ipswich, who wouldn't?

7

Ipswichbusiness added 14:27 - Jan 2 Gkroon89; my understanding, which may be wrong, is that we can only loan two from other PL clubs. As Cajuste comes from Serie A, that leaves us with another loan vacancy should we wish to use it. With Ogbene out for the rest of the season, taking this lad on loan seems to make sense to me.
14

Jan50 added 14:31 - Jan 2 Re loans aren't rules different for foreign loans which Cajuste is ?
4

SuffolkPunch70 added 14:36 - Jan 2 Gkroon89 - I believe the rules are 2 domestic loans + 4 from anywhere else, so at the moment we have 1 from each category leaving us room to maneuver. As others have said though, not sure he plays in a position we are most desperate to strengthen. Also, the cameo appearances he has been given for Villa were somewhat underwhelming from what I have seen - would prefer to see more experienced heads in at this point, similarly to previous winter windows.

8

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