Aston Villa complete £30m signing of Leon Bailey from Bayer Leverkusen as Dean Smith delights at landing ‘hugely exciting’ star as Jack Grealish moves closer to joining Manchester City
- Aston Villa have sealed the £30m signing of Leon Bailey from Bayer Leverkusen
- Sportsmail revealed that the Villans were eyeing a swoop for the Jamaican
- A £30m bid was accepted last week and the club have now completed the deal
- Bailey arrives as Villa star Jack Grealish moves closer to joining Manchester City
Aston Villa have announced the arrival of Leon Bailey from Bayer Leverkusen, the Premier League club’s third signing for the summer as star man Jack Grealish edges closer to leaving for Manchester City.
As Sportsmail exclusively revealed last month, the Villans had been eyeing a £30million swoop for the Jamaica international, a player long monitored by a host of top flight clubs.
The West Midlands club saw their bid accepted by the German side and Bailey – who has been on international duty with Jamaica in the United States – passed his medical on Sunday.
Aston Villa have completed the £30million signing of Leon Bailey from Bayer Leverkusen
The 23-year-old attacker has long been subject to interest from Premier League clubs
The finer details of his personal terms were agreed earlier this week, while his work permit and visa applications went through, allowing the transfer to be finalised.
Bailey has made his name in Germany, scoring 39 goals and providing 22 assists during his three-and-a-half-year spell with Leverkusen. The 23-year-old’s Champions League and Europa League experience will be of value to Villa’s push up the table.
‘It is a great club with a big history,’ Bailey told the club’s official website. ‘I think it is the next step for me and I am excited to get started.
‘I am always putting on a great show for the fans, it has been a great time for me in Germany, I am excited to get started for Aston Villa.’
Head coach Dean Smith has delighted in the arrival of Bailey, describing his latest addition as ‘a hugely exciting’ player.
Bailey (L) joins amid uncertainty over Jack Grealish’s (R) future at Villa Park this summer
Villa’s talisman is edging closer to a £100million move to Premier League champions Man City
‘Leon is a hugely exciting young striker with great pace and creativity,’ he told the clubs official website.
‘He has enjoyed a successful career at Leverkusen and we are now looking forward to watching him show his skills and talents for Aston Villa in the Premier League.’
Bailey is Villa’s third signing of the summer, following £40m arrival Emi Buendia from Norwich City and Ashley Young, who signed on a free from Inter Milan.
Villa head coach Dean Smith delighted in the arrival of the ‘hugely exciting’ winger to the club
The 23-year-old joins as Villa star man Jack Grealish edges closer to joining Premier League champions Manchester City in a mega-money move.
The playmaker has returned to training with his Villa colleagues this week at a west London location but Sportsmail understands the transfer is still expected to go through in the coming days, possibly before City face Leicester at Wembley in the Community Shield.
Though Grealish is believed to have held further discussions with Villa chiefs this week, there is growing acceptance at Villa that he will depart, with the club continuing to monitor Tammy Abraham as boss Dean Smith plans for life without the 25-year-old.