Tottenham have been given a transfer boost in their pursuit of Leon Bailey, with Sport1 saying that the Bayer Leverkusen forward is ‘dreaming’ of playing in the Premier League. Bailey has interest from Everton, Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United, so Spurs will have competition to procure his signature.
How has Bailey fared in Germany?
Since joining Leverkusen from KRC Genk for £12.15m in January 2017, Bailey has gone on to make 115 appearances in all competitions, scoring 24 goals with 15 assists. The 22-year-old has been a regular in his three years at the BayArena and looks destined for bigger things, but he’s coming off the back of a mixed fourth season.
In 2019/20, Bailey was inconsistent, had indiscipline and picked up injuries. The Jamaican international made 32 appearances across the board, scoring seven and assisting three, but he only started 50% of his games and was sent off on two separate occasions. Bailey was substituted on or substituted off 31 times in his 32 outings while suffering from muscle problems in September and October.
As per WhoScored, the 22-year-old had a hand in eight goals from 12 Bundesliga starts last season, created 21 chances, had 35/56 successful dribbles, had 29 shots and whipped in 78 crosses. Bailey hasn’t scored in the league since March and only made two assists since December 2019, however, so he isn’t in the best form of late.
Why do we need him?
From the outside looking in, Jose Mourinho looks overstocked in Bailey’s position. He has Erik Lamela, Lucas Moura, Steven Bergwijn, Heung-min Son and Jack Clarke who can operate in the role, but Moura (35 PL games, 4 goals), Lamela (25 PL games, 2 goals) and Bergwijn (14 PL games, 3 goals) haven’t been too prolific while Clarke is yet to make his debut since joining from Leeds United last summer.
Despite a more fervent need for a right-back, centre-back, central midfielder and striker, we are in the market for a wide option. Brentford’s Said Benrahma is one of many players on our radar, but it remains to be seen who we eventually end up with. Bailey having an asking price between €20m-€30m (£18m-£27m) means he wouldn’t break the bank, but are there better wingers out there?
Summary
Bailey is a talented and affordable player who has scored more league goals (5) than Lamela (2), Moura (4) and Bergwijn (3), but there may be other players worth us looking at.
In other news, a report explains where Ryan Sessegnon and Jack Clarke could end up next season