Leon Bailey has an uncertain future at Aston Villa after a disappointing debut season and Gabriel Agbonlahor believes Steven Gerrard should replace him with Gareth Bale.
Bailey has endured an injury-hit campaign since his move from Bayer Leverkusen and has been inconsistent on the pitch, so Agbonlahor wants an upgrade ahead of next season and says free agent Bale would be ideal.
He said on talkSPORT (h/t Birmingham Live): “I’d take (Bale), yeah. Because Bailey had his injury problems and not performed. Villa have got options in Philippe Coutinho and Emiliano Buendia, but Bale would offer something different coming from the wide position.”
There are many reasons why the Welsh international would be a bad signing, however. Firstly, Bale is just as injury-prone as Bailey, making just seven appearances in all competitions this season due to a knee injury, calf injury, back injury and coronavirus.
The 32-year-old has amassed only 90 minutes of La Liga football since August, so why would Villa sign a player with a worse fitness record than Bailey? Then there’s Bale’s wage demands. He was earning £550k-per-week/£28.8m-a-year, so Villa won’t entertain breaking their wage budget for a player that could miss a lot of next season due to muscle problems.
And finally, Bale wouldn’t fit in Gerrard’s system as he’s a wide man. The Villa manager prefers central playmakers in a 4-3-2-1 and 4-3-1-2 formation, so the likes of Bailey and Bertrand Traore haven’t been getting a look in. Agbonlahor should know better.
In other news, Steven Gerrard won’t sell Tyrone Mings after Gregg Evans update
