Hull City boss describes Leon Bailey-Aston Villa transfer saga as a "mess"

Hull City boss Sergej Jakirovic has described the transfer saga involving Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey as a “mess”.

Bailey has reportedly been on the cusp of joining the newly-promoted Tigers on a number of occasions this summer, but currently remains a Villa player.

The Jamaican international featured just 19 times for Villa last term, scoring once, and spent the first half of the campaign with AS Roma in Italy.

And Jakirovic has revealed that the deal to sign Bailey is currently off - despite previous reports suggesting that a deal was set to be finalised last weekend.

“A mess” - Hull boss on Bailey saga

“I don’t know, right now, what’s happening there. It is a little bit [of a] mess,” Jakirovic told BBC Radio Humberside.

“I can say it like this. If we need to beg somebody to join us, to play for Hull City [in the] Premier League, it’s better to stay, don’t come.

“If you don’t feel this club, that you can help us, that you can sacrifice for the team - not just Leon Bailey, I speak now overall in general.

“It’s better to stay with your club and we will try to find somebody else. What I know today - it’s off. But also, it was off three weeks ago and it was again on [later].”

Bailey, who is now 29, joined Villa from Bayer Leverkusen in 2021, and has scored 23 times in 163 appearances in total.