As things stand Hull are well in the play-off hunt, sitting in sixth place, but only five points above ninth-placed Preston. They have been highly ambitious in the transfer market this season, not only signing Philogene but adding the likes of Fabio Carvalho on loan from Liverpool and Anass Zaroury, who they have borrowed from Burnley.

If they go up as Liam Rosenior hopes, Villa will then have the chance to buy Philogene back for a relatively small sum given the impact he has had on the league, scoring eight and adding six assists in 19 games.

Villa would also have the chance to match any other offer the Tigers receive – with interest seemingly growing in this country and overseas.

The youngster, who has had loan spells with Stoke and Cardiff City, made a decent impact for Villa in pre-season, impressing against Newcastle and Fulham and also featuring in wins against Lazio and Valencia. He even played for Villa as a sub in the first game of the season at Newcastle.

But in the end Unai Emery allowed him to leave with the attacker saying in December. “I needed game time,” he told The Sun . “At my age I can’t just sit on the bench, I need to keep playing and thought this was the best opportunity. Obviously you must be doing something well to get linked with the sort of clubs I have.But you can’t let that get to your head because that’s when the focus drops. You must keep working hard and stay in your game — and everything will come from that.”