Ahead of their match against Chelsea on Sunday afternoon, Aston Villa find themselves in a healthy seventh position in the Premier League table with nine points to their name.
A disappointing showing in the Europa Conference League against Legia Warsaw and an opening day hammering at Newcastle United notwithstanding, Unai Emery has had the Villains playing some brilliant stuff this season.
The Spaniard likes to have his sides playing high up the pitch with intensity and, when possible, a constant press on the opposition back four.
It does sometimes leave them light at the back as their 10 goals conceded – per the official Premier League website – would attest, but they are hugely exciting going forward.
One front man that needs to do more in the opinion of journalist, Dean Jones, is Leon Bailey.
The 26-year-old Jamaican international signed from Bayer Leverkusen back in 2021 remains a little bit hit and miss for the Villains, and Jones believes that if he doesn’t start to deliver, the Midlanders could look to cash in on him.
“I mean this has to be the season for him to regularly deliver otherwise it’s going to be time to leave because Leon Bailey is always wanting to be a big part of something special, and I think being a bit-part won’t be enough for him,” he said to Give Me Sport.
“It’s tough because there’s so much competition at Aston Villa now in those positions that he likes to get into. And I think they will probably be more competition to come over the next year because they’re going to continue to try and recruit and get better.
“But it’s all on Leon Bailey now to step up. I can’t say that I’m completely convinced that he’ll become a key player for Aston Villa, but he’s shown flashes that he is brilliant. And Villa fans need to see that a little more regularly to be convinced.”
With Monchi now on board as president of football operations, given his extensive contact book and wonderful grasp of how to consistently do profitable business in the transfer window, the club aren’t likely to think twice about Bailey or any other player that is underperforming.