Leon Bailey viral: Aston Villa star trending on Instagram after Saudi interest leaked on X

Leon Bailey is expected to make a £25 million move to the Saudi Pro League (SPL) from Premier League side Aston Villa before the summer transfer window shuts.

 

Saudi First Division League winners Neom SC is the team linked to the Jamaican attacker. Aston Villa needs player sales to steer clear of Premier League Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) violations and UEFA's Financial Sustainability Regulations (FSR). Along with Bailey, Villa has also listed World Cup-winning Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez among the stars they want to offload before the new season begins.

 

Villa is in trouble after facing sanctions from UEFA for breaching their Financial Sustainability Regulations. The team is also being investigated by the Premier League's PSR for incurring significant pre-tax losses that exceed allowable limits. Reports claim that Premier League clubs are generally allowed to lose a maximum of £105 million over a three-year rolling period. As things stand, Villa has to generate significant funds through player sales if they intend to avoid further penalties like points deductions or transfer bans. Thus, Bailey and Martinez need to go, as the duo hold the key to gaining massive transfer amounts this summer.

 

The Saudi First Division League is the second-tier football league in the desert nation, and the Tabuk-placed Neom SC is recruiting fresh talent ahead of joining the big boys of the SPL. Alexandre Lacazette have reportedly already joined on a free transfer from Lyon along with ODG Nice goalkeeper Marcin Bulka and West Ham winger Saïd Benrahma. The 27-year-old Bailey is contracted by Villa until 2027 after arriving from Bayer Leverkusen in 2021. While many football outlets claimed agreeing to a transfer to Saudi could be life-changing for the Jamaican, there was no information on personal terms, including salary and other increments that could be offered to him.

 

 

Meanwhile, in a bizarre development, Bailey reportedly deactivated his Instagram handle after some private information was leaked on X. He was found alongside a woman in the said content who was not his long-time partner, Stephanie Hope, with whom he has a child. It is suspected that he wanted to avoid further embarrassment and cyberbullying over the videos and thus decided to deactivate the account. While Bailey has not reacted to the development involving the unidentified woman, fans worry that the incident has the potential to jeopardize his move to Saudi Arabia, as the Middle East country operates under Sharia law, which governs all aspects of life, including public and private conduct.

 

However, Bailey' Instagram handle @leonbailey, which got over 883K followers was opening during the time of compiling this report.

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