Saudi Arabian club could now move to sign £25m Aston Villa player
Saudi Arabian outfit Al Nassr are reportedly interested in signing Aston Villa forward Leon Bailey this summer.
That’s according to The Daily Mail, with the outlet claiming Bailey has emerged as a possible option for the Saudi Pro League side.
Unai Emery has enjoyed an encouraging start to the summer window as Aston Villa have already moved to bring in Youri Tielemans, Pau Torres and Moussa Diaby.
The Villains beat Al Nassr to the signing of Diaby last week, with the talented winger making the switch from Bayern Leverkusen.
And it seems that the Saudi outfit could now turn their attention to Leon Bailey after missing out on Diaby.
The Mail’s latest transfer confidential newsletter claims that Bailey has emerged as a target for Al Nassr.
It’s noted that Emery is searching for more consistency in his Villa side and could be willing to offload Bailey as a result.
Like Diaby, Bailey also made the switch to the Midlands from Leverkusen as he joined the club in a deal worth £25 million back in 2021.
The Jamaican winger has shown flashes of brilliance during his time at Villa Park, but he’s struggled to produce on a consistent basis.
It wouldn’t come as a surprise to see him move on this summer, especially with Villa showing plenty of ambition.
Diaby impressed during his spell in Germany and is expected to come in and make a big impact under Emery.
Former Aston Villa forward Ross McCormack has come out of retirement and joined eighth-tier side Liversedge after two years out of the game. Scot McCormack was at Villa from 2016 to 2019, a period which spanned the entirety of their recent spell in the Championship.
McCormack, now 36, joined Villa upon their relegation following the takeover Dr Tony Xia for a fee of around £12m from Fulham. He played just 20 league games, all of them arriving in the first half of the first season of his four-year contract, before a string of loan moves followed. McCormack, who arrived to much fanfare and considered to be one of the best forwards outside of the Premier League at the time, proved to be an expensive flop.
Having scored three league goals, in draws with Huddersfield and Nottingham Forest – who he’d spend the second half of his first Villa campaign on loan at – in the win over Burton Albion, McCormack was shipped out in the winter transfer window by new boss Steve Bruce, who had already replaced Roberto Di Matteo.
“He is nowhere near fit enough to play and be involved,” Bruce said shortly before McCormack’s first loan departure. “I don’t think he’s in a physical shape or state to contribute. Unless his attitude towards everything changes, he’s not going to be picked.
“He has decided the team has picked itself. How can I pick him when he doesn’t come to training? His failure to turn up for training has happened more than once. Everyone can have an excuse but when it is more than once I will not accept it.”
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