Leon Bailey has enjoyed a meteoric rise this season with Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen.
The 20-year-old attacker moved to Germany from Belgian side Genk last summer. He has gone on to make a series of sensational displays in the Bundesliga that has resulted in him becoming one of Europe’s most sought after young talents.
Bailey has netted 11 goals and provided 5 assists for Leverkusen so far this term, and is reportedly a target of all the Premier League’s top clubs, as well as European giants like Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
However, his team-mate at the Bay Arena, Sven Bender has urged the talented youngster to remain with his current club to develop further instead of moving on to bigger club just yet.
“He has got special abilities, he is incredibly fast and great at dribbling,” Bender told Goal.
“But we did not expect that he would explode that fast. This example shows that football is a fast-paced business.”
“It is important that he handles the hype around him correctly and does not want too much too fast. Now everybody comes to him and suddenly wants something from him.”
“He is only 20 years old and therefore still has development potential. He is a great player and will probably leave one day for a high fee, but I wish him to stay with us for a long time.”
Bailey is Jamaican born but is yet to be capped by the Reggae Boyz, leading to speculation that England may try and call him up ahead of this summers World Cup in Russia.