Aston Villa are reportedly busy trying to strengthen the squad this week, with Leon Bailey edging closer to completing a move while James Ward-Prowse is still a target.
As per the club’s official site over the weekend, it was confirmed that we’d reached an agreement with Bayer Leverkusen for Bailey, and that the move is now subject to him successfully passing a medical and agreeing personal terms.
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The 23-year-old enjoyed an impressive season last year with the Bundesliga outfit, scoring 15 goals and providing 11 assists in 40 appearances across all competitions.
In turn, he’ll be an important addition to our attack along with Emiliano Buendia who arrived earlier this summer, and according to the Daily Mail, the Jamaican international has had his medical in Florida ahead of sealing his £30m switch to Villa Park.
There are still formalities to be finalised in terms of his contract and work permit, but the report notes that the expectation is that Bailey will be a Villa player later this week.
The update comes amid ongoing speculation over Jack Grealish’s future, with the Villa faithful anxiously waiting for official confirmation on whether or not our skipper will still be at the club when the new Premier League season gets underway on August 14.
Meanwhile, the Mail add in the report above that Villa are expected to launch a second bid for Ward-Prowse after our initial offer of £25m was rejected by Southampton, while Todd Cantwell and Axel Tuanzebe are also said to be on our transfer radar.
Ultimately, a lot now hinges on Grealish’s future and whether or not he stays. Adding reinforcements in midfield and defence will likely come either way given the holes and lack of quality depth in the squad in those areas, but if our talismanic playmaker were to depart, it would mean a fresh push to try and fill that particularly damaging void.