Leon Bailey is close to signing a new Aston Villa deal.
The winger is expected to agree fresh terms running until 2027, with his current deal due to expire next year.
Bailey, 26, has scored 10 goals across 31 games in all competitions for Villa this season, having arrived from Bayer Leverkusen in 2021.
“We spoke to him, he is happy here, happy in Birmingham and at Aston Villa,” said Villa boss Unai Emery ahead of Wednesday’s fourth-round FA Cup replay with Chelsea.
“He is working progressively better. The idea is for him to extend the contract and we are close. I think he is going to sign.
“The adaptation for some players is longer, then we need to understand the adaptation, how each player can do it differently.
“Leon, he came from Germany and the first year he didn’t play consistently and he had some injuries. When I arrived here I tried to set him as a second striker and for him to take the best characteristics.
“He was still in the adaptation when I arrived here and the adaptation is everything. More or less, at the end, we can watch him on the pitch and this year he didn’t start really being strong even and last year he was not consistent always.
“For example, the last two matches we played last season, key matches, he wasn’t in the starting XI.
“I spoke with him this year when we started pre-season about how we could improve different issues and things he wasn’t showing us in a consistent way. His reaction was fantastic.”
