Aston Villa have confirmed that Leon Bailey is back for pre-season having joined up with the rest of the squad in the USA.
The 25-year-old was given an extended break this summer having featured for Jamaica in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, with his last outing coming on July 13.
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Having had the chance to rest and recover, Bailey is now back with the group as per the club’s tweet, and he now faces a crucial couple of weeks to dismiss speculation over his future.
According to the Daily Mail earlier this month, Villa are said to be open to selling him this summer, and so it remains to be seen if needs to prove himself in the coming weeks to solidify his place in Unai Emery’s plans.
Villa have added his former Bayer Leverkusen teammate, Moussa Diaby, to the squad while he was away, and so while there is intrigue as to how the pair could link up and flourish together again, it also increases the level of competition and perhaps pushes Bailey down the pecking order.
While Emery will want competition and depth in every position ahead of what promises to be a gruelling season, he may also have plans to continue to mould this squad into his own with new faces that perhaps suit his style and system better.
Bailey was given plenty of opportunities last season, but with just five goals and four assists in 36 appearances, it was a disappointing return, and so he’ll know better than anyone that he has to produce more when in the side to make a bigger impact.
With our final friendly of the Premier League Summer Series against Brentford ahead on Sunday, followed by pre-season outings against Lazio and Valencia before the new campaign gets underway on August 12, Bailey will now hope to feature in those and get as many minutes as possible to impress.
