Everton have once again entered the running to sign Jaden Philogene, with the Toffees considering a January deal for the young winger. The 22-year-old had been a target for Everton in the summer, only for Aston Villa to move quickly to sign a player who had scored 12 goals for Hull in the Championship.

Indeed, Villa were able to steal a march on Everton and newly promoted Ipswich Town due to the existence of a buyback clause in Philogene's contract at Hull, having come through the Academy at Villa Park before departing to the Tigers in September 2023.

So why were Villa so keen to bring him back? And perhaps more pertinently, why would they be willing to let him go - with a permanent deal mooted - so soon?

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The ECHO spoke to Reach's Head of Regional Sport, Mat Kendrick, who can often be heard talking Villa on the Claret & Blue podcast.

He said: "With Philogene, it's been a really interesting one. There was a lot of excitement when he when he came back in the summer. I think it was part of Villa's PSR manoeuvring as well, but there was some real excitement that he could could really thrust himself into the spotlight this season.

"He hasn't really done it. If you watch highlight reels at Hull, you'll see loads of brilliant tricks and flicks, goals and assists, taking on full backs. And that although it's a different challenge in the Championship as it is in the upper echelons of the Premier League, but then his best performance was against Bayern Munich, funnily enough. If you're going to save side the party piece for one occasion, you might as well do it for that. He was played playing more as a kind of wingback, defensive wingback, than a winger that day. So a lot of his work was done defensively and it was a very mature and disciplined performance from somebody so young and a rookie in terms of top flight and European football, he hasn't really replicated that very often.

"It says it all really, that Villa have been really lacking in wide areas, particularly down the right hand flank to such an extent that on Leon Bailey has had a bit of a stinker. Bailey one of Villa's best players last season but hasn't been able to get going, so you'd think if Bailey is not functioning properly then Philogene would get a look in. But the fact that Emery's preferred Bailey to Philogene gives you a sense of how disappointing he had been when he'd come off the bench.

"That's not to write him off. There's definitely talent there, but I just don't think he's quite had the spark, hasn't quite been confident enough to take on players the way we were expecting him to. His delivery not been not been great.

"He's had about 14 appearances in the Premier League. Now, as you can imagine, the bulk of those are from the substitutes bench but he hasn't hasn't scored and got any assists. And looking down the Premier League stats website, he hasn't created any big chances. He made four crosses during during those 14 appearances. So be interesting to see how many minutes he's played. You know, I think he's only had ten minutes here and there in most of those games.

"I think I'd definitely put him down as one with potential, but still got a lot to learn and a lot to show really if he's going to become a regular in a Premier League team. Hope that wasn't too negative. It's as honest as I can be. I do definitely think he's a player - but they haven't haven't been able to unlock it just yet."