DETERMINED TO GET BETTER Bailey focused on improving this season
Bayer Leverkusen’s Jamaica-born winger Leon Bailey says he is focusing on doing even better this season after being named as the Bundesliga’s best newcomer for the 2017-2018 campaign by popular German football magazine ‘11Freunde’.
The award was won last year by former Borussia Dortmund striker Ousmane Dembele, who is now at Barcelona.
Bailey, 21, who is recovering from a shoulder strain, says he is looking forward to the new season, which gets under way this weekend, and is determined to better his nine goals and seven assists return from last season.
“I am elated, happy and proud of myself and the people that have worked with me to accomplish these goals we set from I was young in Jamaica at Phoenix,” Bailey told . “It is a positive feeling for me to receive this award and I am grateful. I will go into the season, as always, giving my best.”
There has been much speculation about Bailey’s future following his breakout season in the Bundesliga. However, the youngster says his focus is on continuing his
Odevelopment and helping his club to achieve its objectives this year.
“I would like to improve on last year’s performance and establish myself in the league, perform well in the Europa League, and help my team to be all they can be. I’d like to be better than last season and become a better player every day and continue to be a role model on and off the pitch,” Bailey outlined, before giving an update on a shoulder injury that has kept him out of action for portions of the pre-season.
“My shoulder is almost better now, it was a strain and I thought it best to rest it. I’m looking
forward to the season and performing well and making my family, my management, my club and my country proud,” Bailey said.
Leverkusen will take on Monchengladbach on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. in their Bundesliga season opener, with reports suggesting the Jamaican should be fit and ready to feature. lympic and World Championships medal-winning sprinter Warren Weir is turning his attention to next year’s World Championships in Qatar, but is even more determined to develop a career in rugby, after helping Jamaica’s Sevens team to a bronze medal at the recent Central American and Caribbean Games in Barranquilla, Colombia. Coming out of his rugby debut, Weir, 28, said he is not quite ready to hang up his spikes just yet, but is excited about his