Playing his “best football” since joining Aston Villa following a significant shift
Under Unai Emery, the Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey has experienced a comeback in performance at Villa Park this year.
According to journalist Dean Jones, Aston Villa’s Leon Bailey is “playing the best football of his time at the club” right now. Villa Park has given GIVEMESPORT an internal update on Bailey’s possible comeback in form.
With the West Midlands giants, Villans head coach Unai Emery has had an amazing year leading them from Premier League relegation candidates to Europa Conference League participants.
Villa has had a strong start to the current campaign, leading their group on the continent and contending for the Premier League title. Emery may try to add more players during the winter transfer window as he has already gotten the most out of his current group.
This season, Bailey has experienced a comeback.
Bailey’s £25 million contract with Aston Villa, which he signed from Bayer Leverkusen, raised high expectations for him. With 28 goals in 119 Bundesliga games, the winger gave Dean Smith, the manager at the time, more width and speed on the wings.
But Bailey was never able to replicate his Leverkusen form at Villa Park, and he struggled under Smith and then Steven Gerrard’s coaching during his debut season. Emery’s appointment gave the Jamaican international an opportunity to prove his worth and live up to his high price. Nevertheless, the Spanish manager frequently chose to start wide players John McGinn, Emiliano Buendia, and Jacob Ramsey ahead of him.
This season, Bailey’s time at Villa may have come to an end due to the club-record £51.9 million signing of Leverkusen and France winger Moussa Diaby. Bailey might have been able to secure a regular place in Emery’s starting lineup with Buendia’s long-term injury, but the team responded by bringing in Galatasaray’s Nicolo Zaniolo on loan.
The 26-year-old could have easily left Villa Park in search of better opportunities, but he persisted in trying to earn a spot in the team. Bailey is one of the players who benefits from Villa’s involvement in the Europa Conference League, which provides greater flexibility for roster rotation.
Despite facing more competition for spots in the squad, the winger’s form has improved this season. Bailey appeared to have seen his days numbered during the summer transfer window, but chief sports writer Neil Moxley of the Sunday People recently told GIVEMESPORT that Bailey now has a future at Villa Park.
Dean Jones update: Leon Bailey Jones credits Diaby’s arrival for Bailey’s recent good form, citing it as motivation to perform to the best of his abilities. The journalist also asserts that the winger’s potential as a football player has never been in question. Smith stated to GIVEMESPORT:
I believe that the intense competition he faces now has most likely motivated him to reach greater heights. It’s likely that Diaby has revealed something else to them as well. Bailey’s ability and potential as a football player are undeniable. However, his length of stay at Aston Villa has been in doubt for the last six months, if not a year. However, it appears that he is playing the best football of his career at the club as of right now.
News on Aston Villa transfers
Bailey has demonstrated his value to Villa’s team, but if the team decides to add more players during the winter transfer window, which opens on January 1st, his spot may still be in jeopardy.
Pedro Goncalves, a winger for Sporting CP, is reportedly wanted by the Villans, according to Portuguese media (via Sport Witness). The former Wolverhampton Wanderers player has a €80 million (nearly £70 million) release clause and is committed to the Lisbon giants through the summer of 2027. According to his contract with Sporting, any buyer would need to pay a hefty price near the release clause in order to persuade the Portuguese team to sell.
Aston Villa is among the four Premier League teams keeping an eye on Nico Williams’ circumstances at Athletic Bilbao, according to 90min. The Villans, along with Arsenal, Liverpool, and Tottenham Hotspur, may rekindle their interest in signing the Spain international in the new year after their attempt to sign him during the summer transfer window failed. Giants of Europe Bayern Munich and Juventus are rumored to be interested in the sprinter as well.
Williams is in an interesting situation because his contract with Bilbao expires in the summer of 2020, and if he hasn’t signed a new contract with the team by then, he will be free to talk to foreign clubs about joining them on a free transfer at the end of the current campaign. For Bailey to stay at Villa Park, he needs to maintain his current level of motivation.
