Roma In Aston Villa Talks Over Leon Bailey Return As Injury Rules Him Out Of Lecce Trip
Roma appear to have run out of patience.
Giuseppe Labellarte
Updated on 06 January 2026
Roma have reportedly opened talks with Aston Villa over a potential early return for Leon Bailey amid news of another injury.
Leon Bailey suffers fresh injury setback ahead of Roma trip to Lecce
Bailey joined Roma on loan from Villa to much fanfare over the summer, but his time at the Stadio Olimpico has not gone to plan.
Not long after joining the club in August, he pulled up with a muscle problem during his first week of training.
What was initially expected to be a short layoff turned into nearly two months on the sidelines.
This delayed Bailey’s competitive debut until mid-October, but things haven’t exactly picked up since.
Bailey has missed 14 of 24 games due to injury, starting only against Sassuolo before coming off early in the first half.
The Jamaica international is yet to play for more than an hour for Roma, and has a mere up 237 minutes under his belt in red and yellow.
Now, Gazzetta dello Sport has reported that Bailey experienced pain in his thigh during his final training session pre-Lecce.
He reportedly trained away from his teammates and has been left out of the squad for Tuesday’s trip to Puglia.
📋 I convocati per #LecceRoma
Leggi la lista 👉 https://t.co/F3R79CJx1H#ASRoma pic.twitter.com/mZM3RPwIGh
— AS Roma (@OfficialASRoma) January 5, 2026
Roma now looking to cut their losses on Bailey
Gazzetta has reported that Roma have already opened talks with Villa over cancelling his loan stint in the Italian capital.
The Giallorossi reportedly paid Villa €2-3m to sign him on loan, with a €22m option to make the move permanent.
However, not only is this now extremely unlikely, but it looks as though Roma want him to leave sooner.
The report adds Villa would prefer to line up a new destination first, and have sounded out the Turkish market.
Besiktas have shown tentative interest so far, according to Gazzetta, leaving the situation unresolved as the window gathers pace.
Bailey, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Tommaso Baldanzi are all out for Roma, who are looking for reinforcements in January.
Roma want Giacomo Raspadori, though they will need to watch out for interest from arch-rivals Lazio.
In any instance, both sides must wait until the end of the Spanish Super Cup.
Raspadori currently plies his trade for Atletico Madrid and is in the squad for the mini-tournament in Saudi Arabia.
Joshua Zirkzee is a Roma target too, but Ruben Amorim’s sacking at Manchester United could cause problems.
Giuseppe Labellarte
Giuseppe Labellarte is a sports journalist with over a decade of professional experience in the industry. His main professional expertise is in soccer. Prior to joining FootItalia, he worked for the likes of Sports Mole, TBR Football, the Chelsea Chronicle and numerous other sites, along with having bylines in the likes of the Nottingham Post. He holds degrees in Journalism and International Relations.
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