EXCLUSIVE: Heart break for Everton with club now set to miss out on Jaden Philogene signing despite agreeing £18m deal for winger as player closes in on move to rejoin Aston Villa

Everton are set to miss out on the signing of young winger Philogene reached an £18million agreement in principle with Hull City for Jaden Philogene.

Jaden Philogene is “destined” to return to Aston Villa this summer despite Everton agreeing an £18m deal to sign him, according to John Percy.

Writing on The Telegraph website (10 July), the journalist reports that the Villans have triggered their right to match any offers for the winger and have agreed a £13.5million deal for the 22-year-old, which includes their 30% discount due to a sell-on clause.

Everton and Ipswich have agreed £18million deals with Hull [Fabrizio Romano, 6 July] too for the winger, and it’s now down to the player’s decision, with the belief being that he will return to Villa Park to work under Unai Emery in the Champions League.

It seemed like the Toffees were all set to bring in their fourth signing of the summer and a third attacker to bolster Sean Dyche’s squad not long ago, but now it’s all turned on its head.

Everton were confident that Philogene preferred a move to Goodison Park [Times, 9 July] over other rival bids, but Villa have since stuck their nose into the mix and a return ‘home’ now seems more likely.

That will come as a huge blow to Dyche and Kevin Thelwell, who have undoubtedly worked hard to convince the player that Merseyside is the right place for him only to see it not go the way they really wanted it to.

The club will now have to head back to the drawing board to find an alternative, with their attacking options out wide especially slim.

There is clearly money to spend however considering a deal was agreed, but Blues fans can probably stop putting Philogene into their predicted lineups for the first game of the season now.