Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey has arrived in Italy to complete his initial loan move to Roma, with an option to buy included in the deal.
The 28-year-old’s future has been the subject of speculation for much of the summer, as having struggled to replicate his form from the season before last in the previous campaign, Unai Emery appears to be moving on in an attempt to upgrade in that area of the squad.
READ MORE: Exit confirmed as Villa offload misfit in useful wage bill boost
Bailey joined us from Bayer Leverkusen in 2021 and has since gone on to contribute 22 goals and 24 assists in 144 appearances, but as per Fabrizio Romano, he is now closing in on sealing a move to Roma, worth an initial €2m for a season-long loan, while there is an option to buy included in the agreement where the Serie A giants can sign him outright next summer for €22m.
As per the video in that post above, Bailey was greeted by Roma fans at the airport and it’s nice to see him looking excited ahead of a new chapter in his career, as it feels as though it’s the right time for a fresh start for both sides.
Provided Villa do indeed bring in reinforcements in the latter stages of the transfer window to ensure we’re not left light in attack, we need more consistency and reliability from our players across the squad, and so the decision to move on from Bailey is a sensible one.
As noted above, it’s a good move for the player too as he’ll get a fresh chance to showcase his talent and quality in a new environment, and it’s hoped that he’s able to do that and earn a permanent switch to the Italian capital next summer.
Coupled with the departure of Jacob Ramsey this past weekend and other outgoings that we’ve seen this summer, Emery will no doubt want more options at his disposal to fill the voids that have opened up in order to compete across multiple fronts, but with Villa needing to be more ruthless and clinical in the final third, it has to be said that offloading both Ramsey and Bailey and hopefully upgrading with the signing of Evann Guessand and one more will prove to be savvy business come the end of this season.
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