Chelsea’s £22million bid for Bundesliga starlet, Leon Bailey got rejected by Bayer Leverkusen according to Dailymail. The Blues have been keeping tabs on the 20-year-old for a while now and sent over scouts to watch his impressive display against Stuttgart last weekend. He got both the assists in the game.
Bailey is on a brilliant run of form for the German side with 4 goals in 12 appearances. Bayern lost Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Kevin Kamp and Javier Hernández in the recent past and the Jamaican has been one of the key attacking components for Leverkusen. His brilliant left foot paired with blistering pace down the wings has cemented him in the first team of Bayer Leverkusen. They remain hopeful of a return to the 4th spot of the points with a win against Werder Bremen on Wednesday.
Bailey was signed for KRC Genk on January of 2017 for a fee of £12millon. Bailey developed his game at the Belgian club appearing in 77 matches for the side while registering 15 goals and 21 assists to his name.
Chelsea came back from their loss to West Ham United on the weekend with a 1-3 showing at the Kirklees Stadium. Sitting in the 3rd spot of the Premier League, Antonio Conte is eager to strengthen his squad in the January transfer window. With Alex Sandro already tied heavily to the club, the Italian is looking for attacking talents as well.
Their summer signing Alvaro Morata has been phenomenal for the Blues with 9 goals and 4 assists in the Premier League. However, Mitchy Batshuayi has fallen out of favour for the side and failed to appear even as a second choice under Conte. With no other strike option, Conte is actively looking for fresh talents up top.
Their academy youngster, Charly Musonda has also failed to break into the squad, let alone the first team. With Eden Hazard fielded as a striker in a few games, Bailey can be the perfect fit to provide width to the team. His pace will be essential to launch counters for the side and combine with Hazard and Morata up top.
Although Chelsea might soon place another bid and pursue the youngster aggressively, Leverkusen will be reluctant to let their best future prospect go this easily. They are competing heavily for a European qualification position in the Bundesliga and improve on their 12th spot finish last season. With Julian Brandt sidelined with an ankle injury, Leverkusen cannot afford to lose Bailey at least for the remainder of this season.
