Leon Bailey leaves Aston Villa for Roma

Reggae Boyz forward Leon Bailey swaps the English Premier League for the Italian Serie A as he departs Aston Villa to join AS Roma on loan.

Roma confirmed Bailey’s arrival on Wednesday via a season-long loan from Villa, where Bailey played the last four seasons. Bailey bid Villa fans an emotional goodbye on social media while also expressing his excitement to ply his trade in Rome.

Bailey joined Villa from German Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen in 2021 following a solid four-year run. After injuries and inconsistency affected Bailey in his first two seasons, Bailey had arguably the best season of his career in the 2023/24 campaign. Bailey scored 10 goals and notched 9 assists in the Premier League as he led Villa to its first-ever Champions League berth. Though his 24/25 season saw the return of his injury and consistency issues, Bailey made history by becoming the first Reggae Boyz player to score a Champions League goal (against Club Brugge) since Leicester City’s Wes Morgan in 2017.

By joining Roma, Bailey is the second Reggae Boyz player to join a Serie A side following Trivante Stewart’s move to Salernitana in 2023. Bailey’s new side, which finished 5th in Italy’s top flight last season, opens its Serie A season on Saturday at home to reigning Coppa Italia champions, Bologna.