Aston Villa are on the verge of making their third signing of the summer as they’ve reached an agreement to acquire Leon Bailey.
The Premier League club announced on Saturday the Bayer Leverkusen winger, 23, will join subject to a medical and finalising personal terms.
Bailey has spent four seasons with Leverkusen, making over 100 appearances after his move from Genk.
He earned a place in the Bundesliga team of the season in 2018 and will head to Villa Park with ten caps for Jamaica to his name.
The Villans have already signed winger Emi Buendia from Norwich as well as former player Ashley Young, who’s now a defender.
Bailey will bolster Villa’s attacking talent and it suggests Villa’s owners (Naseef Sawiris and Wes Edens) are showing plenty of ambition to progress the club. But signing another forward will do nothing to ease fears among fans about Jack Grealish’s future at the club.
The latest from the long-running saga is that Manchester City have tabled a £100million bid for the Villa captain, who starred for England at Euro 2020.
Whatever the outcome, his legendary status at Villa is already secured, according to Jamie O’Hara.
The former Tottenham midfielder, who said he – like Grealish – was honoured to play for the club he supported as a boy, but said the chance to win titles with City is too good to turn down.
“I played for Tottenham, my boyhood club, and it was a dream to play for them,” O’Hara told talkSPORT.
“But for Jack Grealish, he’s been at Aston Villa for a long period of time now, he’s done great things, he’s already a legend.
“If he leaves tomorrow and goes to Man City, he’s still going to be an Aston Villa legend.
“He has to go to Man City because he will guarantee himself trophies. He will win the Premier League, he will win the FA Cup, the League Cup and he will probably win the Champions League as well.
“It’s only a matter of time before Man City do eventually get it over the line, and I think if you’re signing players like Jack Grealish and they’re talking about Harry Kane, too, they’ll win a Champions League.
“Jack is not going to do that at Aston Villa. As much as Aston Villa are going out and signing players and are going in the right direction, and they are a huge football club, they’re still ten years behind where Man City are right now.
“In ten years’ time, Jack Grealish probably won’t be a footballer anymore, he’ll be at the end of his career, so he needs to go to a club now, like Man City, who are going to offer him a huge contract and will guarantee him success and trophies.
“So, when he does retire he looks back, he can say: ‘I played at the top level and won everything’.”