Leon Bailey is set to seal his £30m move to Aston Villa next week after the Premier League club agreed a fee with Bayer Leverkusen. The German club saw the best of their winger last season after Bailey recorded 18 goal contributions in 30 Bundesliga appearances last season. Bailey scored nine goals and assisted another eight in the German top-flight last term and also registered seven goal involvements in eight Europa League appearances. Under the management of Peter Bosz for the majority of last season, Bailey was afforded freedom and the license to make an impact on the pitch.
Leon Bailey said of Dean Smith’s philosophy: “It’s important because I’m the type of player who likes to be creative and to take on defenders and to shoot. We play a lot down the wings and we play a lot of one-on-ones. These kinds of things are the strengths of Moussa Diaby and me, and it’s always good for us if we can play to our strengths. As you can see, we do that a lot and sometimes it pays off and sometimes it doesn’t. It has been paying off most of the time so far and we just need to continue focusing on that.”
Similarly to Dutch manager Bosz, Villa’s head coach Dean Smith trusts the same principles of attacking, free-flowing football and Bailey will believe he can excel under his management, like other attackers who Smith has worked with in the past and present, such as Jack Grealish, Ollie Watkins, Said Benrahma. Bailey is expected to pass his medical and agree on personal terms before officially being unveiled as Villa’s third signing of the summer.
