Aston Villa will reportedly look to offload Leon Bailey this summer as we continue to grapple with PSR concerns and constraints.
The 27-year-old enjoyed an impressive season last year as he established himself as a key figure for Unai Emery, contributing 14 goals and 14 assists in 52 appearances across all competitions.
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Sadly, it’s been a struggle for him in this campaign due to injury troubles and lack of consistent form, as the Jamaican winger has managed just two goals and four assists in 38 outings.
Having fallen down the pecking order with Emery looking to others to fill that void with the likes of Donyell Malen, Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford being signed in January, albeit the latter pairing are only on loan, Bailey’s future at Villa has been questioned as a result.
His reaction at full-time after our win over Tottenham last week in our final home game of the season told a story in itself that he might feel he’s played his last game for us at Villa Park, and the speculation continues to mount.
According to The Telegraph, while Villa have looked for a buyer in the previous two transfer windows, we’ll look to try and offload Bailey again this summer amid concerns over being compliant with PSR.
Villa are expected to be pushed into making more difficult decisions next month ahead of the June 30 end-of-financial-year deadline, and sales will be needed to balance our books and fund our own spending.
Naturally, our ability to qualify for the Champions League will likely have a big influence on our strategy and scope for doing deals, but the suggestion once again is that Bailey could be an obvious sacrifice to help us stay within the parameters and avoid being sanctioned for a breach.
Should an exit materialise, it would certainly be a shame to see Bailey leave given he’s shown what he’s capable of delivering for us down the right wing, and at 27, he still has plenty of time to rediscover his best form and become an important player for us again.
However, if Villa are forced to weigh up their options and are considering which players might be expendable, few will argue that there are many other viable options who could collect a decent fee for us more so than Bailey. That said, much like many of the other individuals we’ll try to sell this summer, it will all depend on the level of interest shown and whether or not a suitable offer is made to ensure an exit is approved.
