Peter Lynch

Sun 25 June 2023 21:22, UK

Leon Bailey arrived at Aston Villa in August 2021 after shining brightly for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen, but things haven’t quite gone to plan for either party.

The English side were convinced the winger could take them to the next level after he hit tallies of 39 goals and 26 assists from 156 matches for the German outfit.

However, since making the switch to the Midlands, the Jamaica international hasn’t exactly set the Premier League alight.

In fact, the 25-year-old currently has just six goals and six assists to his name from 54 Aston Villa appearances, which is well below what is expected of him.

Frustratingly for Villa fans and indeed the player himself, the consistency has not been there, with Bailey seemingly having plenty of peaks and troughs for his club.

And the attacker has now taken this to international level, with Bailey enduring a rollercoaster evening for Jamaica in their 1-1 draw with the USA in the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Sunday (25 June).

The winger was gifted an opportunity to score his fourth goal for his country from the penalty spot in the 29th minute of the match, but Bailey’s effort was saved by USA goalkeeper Matt Turner, with the Jamaican also missing the rebound.

Fortunately, he did manage to put in a superb all-around shift, with the Villa man boasting a 72% passing accuracy, 100% long balls accuracy and four successful dribbles, the most on the night, as per Aston Villa Statto.

Moreover, the forward made three recoveries, won all three of his tackles, two of his three ground duels, and nine ground duels.

Bailey’s display typifies his Villa career so far, with the winger simply needing to find some consistency in order to properly begin to enjoy his football.

In other Aston Villa news, one “clever” player can take the club to new heights as he eclipses a handful of current Villa stars in two key areas.