Gabby Agbonlahor slams Aston Villa summer transfers as 'performances have dropped' for one star
Aston Villa old boy Gabriel Agbonlahor believes Leon Bailey is failing to meet the standards required of a player in Unai Emery's team - but has a full explanation
Gabby Agbonlahor believes Leon Bailey is suffering as a result of Aston Villa's summer business, highlighting how a lack of new competition in his position has helped push the winger out of form.
For a team recording brilliant results on the field and qualifying for this season's Champions League, the summer that would follow was a strange one as a portion of it became dedicated to battling Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR). Amongst others it was two key sales sanctioned that helped keep Villa within the laws.
They were the exits of Douglas Luiz, sold to Juventus for £40m, and Moussa Diaby, who transferred to Al-Ittihad for £50m. The latter's move came later in the window and the need for a replacement was debated as a result - ultimately Unai Emery and Co persisted without any more additions to the squad.
"My club Villa, we had to sell Douglas Luiz before we did any business. We are still quite short I feel on the wings. We had to sell Diaby," Agbonlahor told talkSPORT, clearly aggrieved by the impact of PSR on his former club and their quest to achieve top-four status again.
He pointed out: "Leon Bailey is the only real right-winger [remaining]. He hasn’t got the competition, so his performances have been dropped. It’s going to be harder for teams like Newcastle and Villa to sustain getting into the top four [because of the rules]."
Whilst he has juggled fitness problems in the early weeks of the 2024/25 campaign, the Jamaican has only returned one assist from eight appearances this term. When he is not on the field Unai Emery has turned to naturally left-sided Jaden Philogene, who was brought back to the club with help of a contract clause from Hull City in an £18m deal before the season began.
Emi Buendia, still on the comeback trail to full fitness, can slot in on the right of attack, then otherwise summer signings Samuel Iling-Junior and Lewis Dobbin - both left wingers - were allowed to leave on loan to gain valuable experience.