The latest Aston Villa transfer news from BirminghamLive as Leon Bailey is linked with the exit
Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey
Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey(Image: UEFA via Getty Images)
Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey is a target for Fenerbahçe as his future at Villa Park remains unclear.
Bailey is just one of the players attracting interest in a summer where the club will look to move some players out of the squad in order to help their current PSR situation.
Complying with the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) is one challenge; meeting UEFA’s Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) regulations is another. Monchi faces the task of reducing the club’s wage bill by 10% this summer and again next summer.
Villa could see Bailey as one of their saleable assets that they could afford to lose. Despite being a regular in Unai Emery's wider squad, his patchy form has meant that he hasn't managed to make himself an ever present in the first team.
FootMercato claim that Fenerbahçe have already opened talks with Villa over a potential move ahead of the transfer window closing at the start of September.
As squad players go, Bailey has been important and with 38 appearances for the club accross all competitions last season, the club may not bne in a hurry to get anything but market value for a player with two years left on his contract.
Despite Bailey just having two goals to his name, Interest is high with enquiries coming from Saudi Arabia and several European clubs.
Bailey, who turns 28 in August is widely expected to leave permanently in the coming weeks and has an estimated market value of around £20 million.
If a move to Fenerbahçe did materialse, the Jamaican would find himself in familiar company. Jhon Duran is currently on loan at the club, and in defence they have Diego Carlos.
Manager Jose Mourinho is also looking at a deal to sign Marco Asensio, a player who impressed greatly during his loan spell at Villa.
It's not even that Bailey has been a disaster, or even a bad player for Villa. What he hasn't done though is make himself irreplaceable.
Aside from moments of brilliance, he hasn't set Villa Park alight, and the team can function very well without him.
He is used well by Unai Emery in rotation as part of the bigger squad, but if a good sizeable fee came in for him, you would probably argue that it would be frugal business sense to cash in while he is at a good age and playing reasonably well at the top level.
You'd expect that Villa would get back the fee that they paid Bayer Leverkusen, back in 2021.
There will be other takers too, the winger is thought be of big interest to Saudi league newcomers Neom. With rumours of a huge wage package on offer, and a £25m fee - it's a deal that would make sense for everyone concerned.
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