Bundesliga
Leon Bailey: "Last season wasn't my best"
Bayer Leverkusen winger Leon Bailey says he cannot wait for the new league season to get started after enduring something he regards as a hot-and-cold 2018/19.
Bailey, 21, ended his second full season as a Bayer player with five goals and two assists to show for his 29 Bundesliga outings, although it might have been more had injury not forced him to miss his side's final four matches.
"Last season I had ups and downs," he told Leverkusen's official website.
"I had an injury towards the end, so it wasn't my best season, but right now I'm really looking forward to the new season."
Bailey isn't just spouting empty platitudes. He became the talk of Europe after registering nine goals and six assists in 30 Bundesliga appearances in 2017/18, but those numbers tailed off significantly last season.
Watch: Leon Bailey's Bundesliga mixtape
By the halfway point of 2018/19, he had notched just one goal and two assists, and it was only during the Rückrunde, following Leverkusen's appointment of Peter Bosz as coach, that the Jamaican began to hit his straps.
Now back to full fitness and fresh from helping Jamaica reach the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup semi-finals, Bailey is itching to show his best side one more in the colours of Leverkusen.
"It feels good to me back, it feels good to be back with the boys. I've really missed them," he explained.
"I'm just trying to stay fit, stay positive and stay focussed. I'm looking forward with the mindset of being better than last season."
Bailey had the opportunity to do just that when Leverkusen travelled to fourth-tier Alemannia Aachen in the DFB Cup first round on Saturday, and he started the season as he means to go on by coming off the bench to score - with his very first touch - in a 4-1 win.
Die Werkself host promoted Paderborn in their opening Bundesliga fixture of 2019/20 on 17 August, and also have UEFA Champions League football to look forward to after clinching a top-four finish on the final day of last term.
Bailey, who is a four-time Jamaica international, has made 84 appearances for Leverkusen since making the switch to Germany from Belgian outfit Genk in January 2017. He has scored 18 goals and provided 13 assists in all competitions in that time.