'I need a new challenge' - Aston Villa and Everton target dubbed 'budget Sancho' demands move

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 28 Jul 2021 11:10 BST
• 5 min read

Aston Villa and Everton will have taken note of a come-and-get-me plea from Bayer Leverkusen attacker Leon Bailey, who has said he wants a summer move.

Bailey has previously been associated with a move to Manchester United, though those rumours have died down over the course of the last year.

Nevertheless, the 23-year-old Jamaica international has been dubbed a ‘budget Jadon Sancho’ due to his attributes, which helped him accumulated 15 goals and 11 assists in all competitions last season.

Aston Villa and Everton are the two Premier League teams most closely associated with him this summer, and Bailey has suggested he would be open to a move.

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“I’ve worked hard and I feel like I’m at an age and at a point in my life where I’m ready for the next step,” Bailey told ESPN. “I’m 100% ready.

“Hopefully it will happen soon. For me, it’s about being at the highest level. I feel like I need a new challenge.”

Bailey is now free to fully focus on his future after helping Jamaica to the quarter-finals of the Gold Cup, in which his side were defeated 1-0 to the USA.

Signed from Genk in January 2017 for €12 million, Bailey has proven himself to be a hit in Germany, scoring 28 goals and laying on a further 21 in his Bundesliga appearances.

He has never hidden his dream to play in the Premier League, which is a reality that could come to fruition this summer.

For Leverkusen, it would represent the loss of a second winger this summer as Demarai Gray moved to Everton.

Although there were talks that he could move for as much as €47 million last summer, the deflation of the transfer market means that Leverkusen have reduced their asking price for Bailey to around €35m.