Throughout the summer transfer window, Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey has been linked to clubs from Saudi Arabia to Turkiye with particular interest coming from Besiktas as of late, but the Jamaican international looks to be headed to Italy instead, with a loan deal to AS Roma nearing completion.
According to football insider Fabrizio Romano, Bailey has stood as a prime loan target for AS Roma after the Serie A club faced off against Villa in a pre-season friendly on Aug. 6. In that match, Bailey looked spry, threatening and displayed an effective hold-up game that Roma was unable to diffuse. Villa went on to rout the Italian side by a 4-0 margin, and Bailey was one of the shining stars for the Claret and Blue during the match.
Since that time, Roma has been working to add a few more players to its attack before the 2025-26 Serie A season kicks off, which includes links to out-of-favor Manchester United forward Jadon Sancho. However, Roma has not landed Sancho’s services just yet, so Bailey could walk into a fair amount of minutes should his deal become complete.
During Villa’s first Premier League match against Newcastle last Saturday, Bailey was left off the bench, which could be seen as a rather clear indicator of his future. At 28 years old, Bailey battled hamstring issues last season en route to 38 appearances spread across four competitions, but his production fell off mightily during that time. Bailey logged just two goals and four assists last season, marking a staggering dropoff from the 25 goal contributions posted by Bailey a season prior. On his day, Bailey put in top class performances for Villa in pivotal matches, but he was inconsistent in his ability, more of a spark plug than a metronome.
With that in mind, Villa seems keen to provide a change of scenery for Bailey, one that comes with a buy-option clause for a €22 million Roma should the Jamaican international produce at a decent clip.
Where Bailey’s departure leaves Aston Villa
If Bailey does leave for Roma, Aston Villa will operate with somewhat shallow attacking depth up top. Jacob Ramsey recently departed for Newcastle, which leaves considerable minutes up for grabs already, and loaning Bailey to Roma would further exacerbate that situation.
Of course, Donyell Malen has come on strong throughout the preseason, and he is comfortable playing a variety of roles, from attacking midfielder to winger to striker up top. Morgan Rogers has solidified himself as a crucial cog in Villa’s attack, and new transfer Evann Guessand from OGC Nice is expected to occupy a similar role as Malen.
That stated, the emergence of a youngster such as Samuel Iling Jr. would go a long way in stabilizing the claret and blue forward depth. There have been recent talks about reacquiring Marco Asensio from PSG after his move to Fenerbahce broke down, but nothing is concrete on that front as of yet.
So, it may still be a busy close to the transfer window for Villa as Unai Emery and Monchi work to bring a competitive fleet of first team players into Villa Park.