Aston Villa: NSWE open to offers for Leon Bailey

The Villa Park forward is believed to be surplus to requirements heading into the 2023/24 season.

Aston Villa are open to listening to offers for attacker Leon Bailey this summer, according to reports in the last 48 hours.

When did Leon Bailey join Aston Villa?

The Jamaica international first arrived in the Midlands from Bayer Leverkusen back in 2021 meaning that his contract isn’t set to expire for another two years, and last season he nailed himself down a regular starting place under Unai Emery at Villa Park.

In the Premier League, the left-winger was handed 26 starts so wasn’t at all out of favour in any way, but despite this, NSWE and Monchi have recently been linked with moves for Wolverhampton Wanderers’ former star Adama Traore and Barcelona’s Ferran Torres, which would suggest that they are looking at potential replacements.

Speaking to GiveMeSport, Daily Express journalist Ryan Taylor delivered his own personal verdict on the 25-year-old’s current future. He said:

“I think Bailey’s situation is self-inflicted. I don’t mean that nastily, but he hasn’t honestly really delivered since he arrived at the club. I had high hopes for him because I’d seen what he could do with Bayer Leverkusen and during his time in Belgium. He had that ability to cut in and score goals which is so hard to be stopped. But he hasn’t shown that Villa.”

Is Leon Bailey leaving Aston Villa?

According to Football Insider, Aston Villa are “willing to listen to offers” for Bailey ahead of the 2023/24 campaign. The B6 outfit are hoping to “raise cash” to fund another forward signing and have identified the attacker as a player that they can let go of before the end of the ongoing transfer window due to him no longer being seen as a “regular starter” by the boss following the arrival of Moussa Diaby.

Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr are “showing an interest” in him which leaves his future “up in the air”, and it’s stated that the board “would not discourage” the move going ahead, with the Middle East club able to offer their target a “huge” contract and also to easily meet his £20m asking price.

Aston Villa and more importantly Emery believing that Bailey doesn’t have a long-term future at the club is tough to take when considering how much of an integral part in their success he played last season, so getting rid of the left-winger this summer would be a huge mistake.

The Phoenix Sports Management client, who’s sponsored by Nike, posted eight goal contributions (four goals and the same number of assists) in 33 top-flight appearances whilst recording 51 shots over the course of the previous campaign which was the second-highest total behind Ollie Watkins, via FBRef.

The Spaniard’s “deadly” forward, as previously dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, also provides the manager with excellent versatility having been deployed in seven various positions since the start of his career, including everywhere across the frontline and even three roles in the midfield, so regardless of whether he’d start, Bailey is still a wonderful player to have in the building.