Jamaican winger Leon Bailey reaffirmed his commitment to Aston Villa while accusing the media of misconstruing his words in a post to Instagram on Thursday.

“Please do not misconstrue my words. I am dedicated to Aston Villa and focused on delivering the best season for our club ever. I love my club and our loyal fans. UTV,” the post read.

He was responding to a report by Sky Sports that suggested that he “would like to join a ‘big six’ team in the Premier League, despite signing a new deal at Aston Villa last month”, based on comments he made during an interview on Let’s Be Honest podcast in Jamaica.

Bailey had been asked if would be interested in a move to Chelsea in the near future considering that compatriots Dujuan Richards and Raheem Sterling are part of the ‘Blues’ squad.

He replied: “You have big teams in England, they call themselves the big six. The Arsenals and the Chelseas. It has always been my dream to play in the Premier League and I am right now.

“Who wouldn’t want to go to a massive team? Especially coming out of Jamaica, do you know how big that is for the country? Especially being who I am as well,” he continued, adding “I don’t know how to answer that question, but I’d have to see in the moment.”

Bailey has been in a media firestorm since the airing of the interview where he upbraided the Jamaica Football Federation and declared that he will “take a break” from the Jamaican national team over issues stemming from what he called a low level of professionalism.

READ: Suspended Reggae Boy Leon Bailey says he was about to take a break from national duty

He wouldn’t have been available for Jamaica to take on the USA on Thursday, as head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson had suspended him over missing curfew during a November camp.

He mocked the JFF over clumsy blunders involving travel arrangements, and even basic equipment challenges.
“You’re turning up and they don’t have equipment for you. You’ll go and they’ll only have one shirt for you, and you have to find shorts,” Bailey said, a smile playing at the corners of his lips. “Players turn up to games and it’s a women’s shirt they print out for them to wear. It’s ridiculous and they don’t know how to operate.”

Bailey even went so far as to suggest that flight arrangements represented a major challenge for the JFF.

“You’re getting your flight details [at] 11 p.m. to travel the next day. [The JFF] doesn’t pay us. I can’t remember the last time I received a dollar from the national team. It’s very unprofessional, in ways you can’t even imagine,” Bailey railed.

“A lot of people don’t know that most of the time, I book my own flights to come and represent Jamaica because they are very unprofessional,” Bailey added.

Bailey, who was Aston Villa’s Player of the Month in February, signed a new contract with the club. The 26-year-old Reggae Boyz attacker has been in sensational form this season and is playing the best football of his career to date.