Leon Bailey has grown and grown into a top performer for Aston Villa ever since he joined the club from Bayer Leverkusen in 2021.
It didn’t help the 27-year-old’s cause that, as soon as he joined, Dean Smith would be sacked and then replaced by Steven Gerrard.
That instability and the fact that Bailey had injury issues didn’t help his or Aston Villa‘s cause because there was little to no impact from the player.
Added to the fact that Gerrard’s reign would be a disaster at Villa, not just for Bailey, but the whole group.
But that’s when the genius of Unai Emery joined Aston Villa and he has helped transform the club, including taking the game of their Jamaican star to much higher heights.
He was crucial in Villa securing Champions League football last season by scoring ten Premier League goals and supplying nine assists from the right wing.
The Midlands side, from a performance and results perspective, didn’t exactly sparkle in pre-season losing four games.
But Bailey shared that usually he would ‘come back late’ for pre-season, but it wasn’t the case this time around and now he feels in ‘much better shape’ than the previous campaign, as he told Premier League‘s YouTube channel.
Bailey has since admitted that this summer’s games and pre-season in general have been ‘physically a lot demanding’ and one that he hasn’t had in about five years.
Leon Bailey’s pre-season
“Definitely, it was (physically) a lot (demanding),” said Bailey about pre-season. “I haven’t had a pre-season like this in this about five years.
“I would always come back late to the team because of international football. It has been hard, but hopefully, it’s going to pay off in the season. I feel fit and in much better shape than I was last season, so let’s see.”
Leon Bailey in the Champions League
It’s the one fans are looking forward to, including a mouthwatering home tie against German giants Bayern Munich next month.
It’s a shame that the high ticket prices for the Champions League matches have overshadowed the build-up because Emery’s hard work doesn’t deserve it.
READ MORE: Aston Villa star reveals Unai Emery conversation that has taken his game to the ‘next level’
That’s where certain individuals from the boardroom have let the fans down because the fans and the players deserve so much better.
But before all of that, Villa face Everton in the Premier League at the weekend and they will be looking to post their first three points of the campaign.
