Aston Villa: Unai Emery will be furious after what happened to Leon Bailey during international break
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery will likely be furious with Leon Bailey following the winger’s comments over the international break, according to Alan Hutton.
The Jamaican international has been in excellent form for Emery’s side so far this season, scoring eight goals and laying on a further eight assits for his teammates before signing a contract extension to extend his stay at Villa Park.
However, in a recent interview [Let’s Be Honest, 20 March], the 26-year-old suggested that he would be eager to play for a “massive” Premier League team like Arsenal or Chelsea in the future to help grow the profile of Jamaican football.
While Hutton admitted he would be enraged by Bailey’s comments if he were in Emery’s position, he thinks that the winger is more than happy at Villa Park having spoken to him after Villa’s win over Ajax in the Europa Conference League.
“I’ve bumped into him and spoken to him a few times,” Hutton told Villa News.
“He seems like a really nice guy so I don’t know if he was led into certain questions and they’ve picked him up wrong, I don’t know.
“It’s amazing how many times this happens when players go back to their home country and they get interviewed and asked certain things and the next minute there are these big issues in the paper.
“If I was the manager I wouldn’t be happy, because even if you asked that question why would you answer it? I can only think from my point of view I would say, ‘No I can only concentrate on the team I’m at, I’m not going to speak about that’.
“Maybe he’s just fallen into the little trap so I do feel for him. He’s been excellent, he signed his new deal and he looks really happy.
“I even asked him that question against Ajax because he’s playing with a lot of freedom and confidence and he said the manager has a lot to do with that so I think and hope it’s just been taken out of context a little bit.”
Will Leon Bailey look to leave Aston Villa in the summer transfer window?
There has been plenty of speculation around a number of key Aston Villa stars in recent weeks with some suggesting that the likes of Ollie Watkins and Douglas Luiz could look to move away from Villa Park this summer.
Villa’s profit and sustainability situation has been the primary reason for that and selling a player like Bailey would help that. But Emery won’t want to lose one of his most influential players, especially to a rival, this summer.
Hopefully, Hutton will be right and this will be nothing more than a mistake in an interview that will be forgotten in a matter of days, but the winger’s recent comments will only add fuel to rumours about his future.
In other Aston Villa news, Hutton has suggested that there is no way back for Leander Dendoncker despite a new transfer update
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