Chelsea have reached an agreement on personal terms with RB Leipzig attacking midfielder Xavi Simons, sources have told CaughtOffside.
Having consulted figures with close links to the agents industry, CaughtOffside have learned that Simons’ move to Chelsea is edging closer.
Simons has had a host of interest this summer, with a move away from Leipzig long felt as “inevitable” and now looking “closer to becoming a reality”, according to one source.
How close are Chelsea to signing Xavi Simons?
Our latest understanding is the following…
- Chelsea have an agreement on personal terms with the Netherlands international
- This follows Fabrizio Romano’s claims yesterday that direct talks were advancing, with the player keen on the move
- There still needs to be an agreement between the clubs, with Leipzig possibly set to hold out for as much as €80m, though possibly closer to €70m if the overall package is structured adequately
Have other clubs shown an interest in Xavi Simons?
Our information is that…
- Simons’ agent recently offered his client to Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham, with the 22-year-old particularly keen on a move to the Premier League
- There had also been interest from Barcelona, but the deal was considered too expensive
- Bayern Munich were also interested but are continuing to prioritise Luis Diaz for that position
- Manchester United and Newcastle also had an interest, but never made any concrete advances
Chelsea going on another spending spree
Chelsea’s current owners have spent big on revamping the squad since they took over from Roman Abramovich a few years ago.
It seems the Blues are now prepared to invest even more money with the signing of Simons, while they’ve already brought in Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap for their attack this summer.
This follows Jadon Sancho, Joao Felix and Pedro Neto all joining last year, though Sancho has already left after the end of his loan spell, and Felix is unlikely to stay.
Noni Madueke has also left to join Arsenal, so it seems that has prompted CFC to go all out with yet more spending on big names for their attack.
It would be interesting to get an Arsenal perspective on this, as one imagines there’ll be a fair few fans who would have rather seen them move for Simons over Madueke, with their deal for the latter actually seeming to help fund Chelsea’s move for the former.