Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey is enjoying arguably his best-ever individual campaign.
The wide-forward joined the Midlands giants from Bayer Leverkusen in 2021, and despite enduring a slow start has recently emerged as one of Unai Emery’s most important players.
Recently signing a contract extension until 2027 with an option to add another year, Bailey, 26, was labelled ‘fantastic’ by his manager (Birmingham Live).
Fans warned Leon Bailey could leave Aston Villa
However, despite the Jamaica international committing his long-term future to the Villians, journalist Dean Jones believes it could be just a matter of time before the 26-year-old looks for a new challenge.
“The thing with Leon Bailey is he is very confident in himself and, as such, has always believed he would go to the very top,” he told GiveMeSport.
“He will be loving the fact he is a key part of a team chasing down a Champions League spot, but this is where he feels he should be, so it’s not like he will feel any sense of luck that this is happening to him.
“From what I have heard in the past, he has felt he would be a Champions League player. With what we are hearing now, I think we can see that is what he is making sure of. He has set himself high standards and will not accept falling away from here, so if that means a transfer to a different top six club, I can see him doing that.”
Premier League trio make transfer mistake
If Jones is proven right in the coming transfer windows, some of the Premier League’s biggest teams will be kicking themselves.
According to Sky Sports, Liverpool and both Manchester clubs were actively tracking the forward before he agreed to join Villa but were put off by his at-the-time £40 million price tag.
Consequently, after agreeing to team up with Emery, and eventually signing for Villa for around £25 million, any future sale will undoubtedly be hugely profitable for the Midlands-based side.
Since his transfer two-and-a-half years ago, Bailey, who has 28 senior international caps, has scored 18 goals and registered 17 assists in 94 games in all competitions.