According to José Barroso in L’Équipe, Manchester United and Arsenal are in the battle to sign on-loan Paris Saint-Germain star Xavi Simons this summer.
The 21 year old has already bounced around Europe, even at his young age, leaving Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain as a 16 year old, before spending one season at PSV Eindhoven, before les Parisiens exercised a buy-back clause in his contract, bringing him back to the French capital for €6 million.
He then spent the most-recent season on loan at RB Leipzig, scoring 10 goals in 43 appearances as die Roten Bullen finished fourth in the Bundesliga.
On 1 July, he will officially become a PSG player again, with the Ligue 1 champions looking to loan him out again, before eventually reintegrating him into their first team in the future.
Simons is currently at the European Championships, starting the Netherlands’ 2-1 win over Poland at Volksparkstadion on Sunday afternoon, so some good performances in Germany will only raise interest him.
When asked about his future, Simons said: “I will make a decision after the Euros and a short break. I want to be focussed on the tournament because that is my current priority and afterwards already will speak with the PSG.’
Would Simons be a good signing for Manchester United?
As we know, Erik ten Hag likes signing players he’s familiar with, having brought André Onana, Mason Mount, Lisandro Martínez and Antony to Manchester United, all players he’d previously managed, also acquiring fellow-Dutchman Tyrell Malacia and Wout Weghorst.
Now that it’s been confirmed ten Hag is staying at Old Trafford, it’ll be interesting to see if he continues to have a big say in transfer, as Sir Jim Ratcliffe continues to restructure the club off the field.
On the pitch, Simons could offer the attacking creativity that Man United have been lacking, forming a midfield trio with Kobbie Mainoo and Bruno Fernandes, essentially taking up the position neither Christian Eriksen nor the aforementioned Mount have been able to nail down.
Could Simons elevate Arsenal to the next level?
12 months ago, all the transfer talk surrounding Arsenal was about trying to find this now infamous ‘left eight’, seeking to replace Granit Xhaka, joining Declan Rice and Martin Ødegaard in the midfield trio.
Kai Havertz was bought to be this player, but only really looked comfortable up front so, once again, midfield is an area Mikel Arteta is looking to strengthen.
Simons was outstanding against the Gunners during his PSV days, a 2-0 Europa League defeat in Eindhoven for Arteta’s team in 2022, so it’s no surprise Arsenal are interested.
The Dutchman is valued at around £68m by Transfermarkt so a loan move for the 21 year old would allow Arsenal to allocate their resources to other positions.
