Aston Villa journalist Luke Hatfield insists that Dean Smith wanted to sign winger Leon Bailey because of his pace this summer.

The club secured a deal to bring the winger into the club from Bayer Leverkusen prior to Jack Grealish’s British record transfer to Manchester City.

Villa paid £25m to bring him in for the Bundesliga club after his impressive spell in the German top-flight.

The Jamaica international made 156 appearances for Leverkusen, scoring 39 goals and laying on 26 assists in total.

Hatfield has explained that Smith was more than willing to overlook the fact that he hadn’t played Premier League football because of his speed in the final third.

Bailey made his debut in the shock 3-2 defeat to Watford at the weekend and provided an assist in the game despite the loss to the newly-promoted Hornets.

He has explained: “Leon Bailey, he really wanted his pace. And he was willing to forego the fact that he didn't have any Premier League experience to sign him and he's looked good, albeit we've seen half an hour of him at Villa so far.”

Bailey has also won nine caps for Jamaica, scoring once for his international side.