Aston Villa: Leon Bailey should get more credit for Premier League-leading numbers

Aston Villa might just be making a mistake if Leon Bailey is allowed to leave Villa Park this summer.

The 28-year-old first joined the Villans back in the summer of 2021, and over the next four seasons would provide 45 goal contributions in 146 appearances.

However, an underwhelming 2024-25 campaign that saw him net just twice and register four assists in 38 games saw him shipped out on loan for the start of last season.

Joining Serie A giants Roma, Bailey would only manage seven league outings and 182 minutes of Italian top-flight football with zero goal contributions before being recalled to the West Midlands in January.

A 41-cap Jamaican international, the winger is only contracted with Aston Villa until next summer, meaning a decision is soon going to have to be made on his future in B6.

But, whilst he may not have produced much in attack for Unai Emery's side in the second half of last term, he was one of the Premier League's best in his position in defence.

How good were Leon Bailey's defensive numbers in 2025-26?

Being a winger, naturally your judged more heavily on your contributions going forward rather than in defence.

As a result of this, Bailey's solitary assist and zero goals from 13 Premier League appearances last season didn't shine him in a particularly positive light with many Aston Villa fans.

There is now growing talk of him being on the transfer chopping block at Villa Park this summer, as Emery looks to better equip his forward line for the demands of Champions League football.

Of course, if Villa are to go far in that competition next season they will have to be potent in attack, but they will also need to be rock-solid at the back too against elite forward lines.

That's where a potential Bailey revival in the West Midlands could stem from, as the right winger excelled in his defensive duties in 2025-26.

As per FotMob, Bailey's 6.17 recoveries per 90 ranked him in the top 2.3 percentile of all Premier League right wingers last season.

Meanwhile, his 9.56 defensive contributions and 1.99 tackles per 90 placed him in the leading 9.9 and 23.7 per cent of his positional rivals.

Bailey also averaged 0.80 possessions won in the final third and 0.60 interceptions per game too; both well above average in his position.

Bailey's attacking numbers may surprise you

Whilst we're on the subject of Bailey, it's worth taking a scan of his underlying numbers in attack too, just to see if he struggled as much as his goal contributions would suggest he did.

And, well, the underlying stats he registered in some key areas paints a very different picture of his performances in attack.

Bailey's 2.39 chances created per 90 last season put him in the top 6.1 per cent of Premier League right wingers.

On top of that, his 0.29 expected assists as well as his 1.00 successful crosses per game placed him among the leading 6.1 and 22.1 percentiles respectively.

So, not only was he among the Premier League's top-producing right wingers in numerous important defensive metrics last season, the same can be said for him in attack.

It might not be such a bad idea to utilise his final 12 months under contract at Aston Villa to give him one last shot of reclaiming the starring role he once had at Villa Park.