AS Roma could be an option for Aston Villa’s Leon Bailey this summer, according to claims from Italy.
Journalist Alfredo Pedullà reports the 28-year-old is evaluating several offers, including one from the Serie A side.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s side are keen on Aston Villa and Pedullà says may be developments in this case in the next few hours.
Il Messaggero reports Aston Villa director Monchi proposed the winer to Roma sporting director Frederic Massara.
Last week, the Italian club played a friendly against Unai Emery’s side at Bescot Stadium. On the sidelines, Massara had a ‘long chat’ with the Aston Villa official, and Il Messaggero indicates this is when Monchi could have offered Bailey to Roma.
The Jamaica international is not part of Emery’s plans this season and is looking for a new club. He’s attracting interest from Saudi Arabia, but his desire is to continue in Europe, where Roma are in the mix.
Thursday’s edition of Corriere dello Sport claims Massara made contact with Monchi and Bailey’s entourage. The newspaper says the response, likely from Monchi, was ‘lets talks about it’.
They add his agent is negotiating personal terms with Roma and could soon arrive in Italy to try and the finalise the agreement.
Meanwhile, Massara may have taken advantage of his trip to England to find out the terms needed to sign Bailey.
Corriere report Aston Villa can’t ask more than €23-25m, while Roma prefer to bring the price down. Their plan is to sign him on loan with an obligation to buy if certain conditions are fulfilled.
Bailey currently earns €3.5m per year and the Roma official can try to meet it by including bonuses. It won’t be cheap for Roma to sign him and they need to make the final decision.
If Roma decide against signing the attacker, he’ll have to find another club, considering he’s not part of Emery’s plans. There’s also been claims of interest from Turkey.