Chelsea: Who is Leon Bailey and is this transfer worth pursuing?

Chelsea have recently been linked with a move for Bayer Leverkusen’s Leon Bailey. Who is Bailey? And should the Blues continue their pursuit in January?

As January nears, transfer rumours start spreading rapidly. One of the latest flying around is that of Leon Bailey. Is this just another rumor or a genuine transfer interest? Bayer Leverkusen issued a hands-off warning regarding their youngsters, but that often means little in football transfers. Let’s take a closer look at the winger.

Breakout season

It’s fair to say that Bailey is having a pretty decent season in Germany. Eight goals and four assists over all competitions isn’t a bad return after only 16 games. Deployed on either wing, Bailey’s pace is arguably his most appealing and strongest asset. This season he’s been able to add an extra dimension to his game that has got the big teams circling.

Bayer Leverkusen are blessed to have both Leon Bailey and Julian Brandt among their ranks. Both talented wingers, Bailey has made more of an impression so far this season. Bailey lies one goal behind striker Kevin Volland, Leverkusen’s top scorer so far.

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The big sharks are circling

As many expect, top performances from a promising youngster are going to attract the attention of the big clubs, all of whom were supposedly tracking Bailey years ago. Chelsea were even supposed to have signed him back in 2015 when he played for Slovakian side Trencin. The plan was apparently to sign Bailey and then loan him to Genk in Belgium.

However, he ended up signing permanently for Genk for a measly £1.3 million. He spent a year-and-a-half in Belgium before moving onto his first ‘big club’. Joining Leverkusen has rapidly improved his game. Now, Chelsea and Arsenal have come along trying to sweet talk the young Jamaican to London.

Avoid another Salah

The Bailey deal has a whiff of Salah about it. As much as Chelsea fans would love to still have the Egyptian, they must not make the same mistakes. Signing someone who’s strutting in the Bundesliga is slightly different than signing someone from Basel. Unless you are Arsenal – Granit Xhaka (Dortmund) and Mohamed Elneny (Basel) are well matched in ability.

Aside from that, the focus must lie with keeping Bailey playing at Chelsea and not farming him out on a silly loan deal only to sell him three years down the line. The only result of that process would be Manchester City coming along and signing him for £200 million from Napoli.

Pedro, 30, and Willian, 29, are at times way too predictable to have any real impact on a game. Pedro never disappoints with his work-rate, but his form isn’t even close to last season. Willian is Willian. Sometimes excellent, often disappointing.

The Musonda debate

Chelsea already have a hugely talented young winger at the club. The Belgian, Charly Musonda, has been talked about for years. Give him the opportunities at Leverkusen that Bailey has had and he’d be considered just as impressive.

Musonda’s issue in recent times has been his use of social media to release his frustration at a lack of game time. Injury has held him back but he’s shone in his cameos. The two seem to be fond of each other with Bailey popping up on Musonda’s Instagram page. 101% transfer confirmed.

However, the proposed fee of £30 million for Bailey does seem like quite a steal in the current transfer market that somehow values Virgil van Dijk at £75 million. Just think about how much Cesar Azpilicueta is worth!

Fun fact

Bailey is actually eligible to play for Belgium. He shunned the quality of Jamaican football saying it must improve if he is ever to play for the Reggae Boyz.

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What do you think of Leon Bailey? Should the Blues pursue the Jamaican? Let us know in the comments below!