Barcelona will reportedly need to fend off competition from Manchester City and Newcastle United to re-sign 18-year-old PSG prodigy Xavi Simons.
According to a report by Spanish outlet Fichajes, Manchester City and Newcastle United have joined Barcelona in the race to sign Xavi Simons in the ongoing transfer window. The 18-year-old attacking prodigy is keen on leaving Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain to seek a clear pathway to first-team football.
Xavi Simons spent most of his formative years at Barcelona before leaving the Catalan club to join Paris Saint-Germain in July 2019. The motive of the transfer was to seek a quicker pathway to first-team football, but the opportunities have not been forthcoming in the last two and a half years.
The 18-year-old remains on the fringes of the first-team squad, mustering up only 193 minutes of game-time across four appearances for PSG. Simons’s frustrations have boiled over as a result, and he is keen on leaving the Ligue 1 giants in the January transfer window. Such a situation has captured the attention of Barcelona, Manchester City and Newcastle United.
Recent reports had claimed that Barcelona had no intention of re-signing Simons. However, it looks like the Blaugrana could launch the offensive for him amid uncertainties surrounding the future of Frenkie de Jong. If the Dutchman were to depart, Simons could replace his compatriot at Barcelona, forging a youthful midfield unit along with Pedri, Gavi and Nico Gonzalez.
As for Manchester City, the interest from the Premier League champions comes as a major surprise, considering Bernardo Silva has turned his fortunes around spectacularly this season. Silva’s resurgence, coupled with the presence of Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne, leaves no spot in Manchester City’s creative department, so it is hard to envision how Simons would fit in the scheme of things.
But Newcastle United could do with someone like Simons amid a squad overhaul that needs as many offensive reinforcements as in defence. So after signing Kieran Trippier from Atletico Madrid, Simons could arrive to bolster the Magpies’ creative unit.
The report claims that Simons could leave PSG as early as the January transfer window. And with his contract with the Ligue 1 giants expiring in the summer, Barcelona, Manchester City and Newcastle United will have the chance to snap him up on a cut-price fee.
