Chelsea told to sign €32m star who has equalled Haaland record

Robin Bairner

• 16 Sept 2023 21:51 BST
• 3 min read

While teams around Europe will be salivating over the prospect of Kylian Mbappe becoming a free agent next summer, Chelsea should consider a move for another star on the Parc des Princes side’s books.

Xavi Simons has started the season on loan at RB Leipzig and has done so exceptionally. Indeed, only Erling Haaland and Paco Alcacer, both at Borussia Dortmund, have ever been so impactful in such a short period of time in the Bundesliga.

The 20-year-old, who has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €32 million has played just four matches in Germany but already has seven goal contributions. Remarkably, he has achieved this despite drawing a blank in his debut.

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Since then, though, he has had a goal and an assist in three successive games, plus a second decisive pass against Stuttgart for good measure.

It was a run he continued on Saturday against Augsburg in a 3-0 win.

Simons may be on PSG’s books, but the signs are that the Netherlands star is uncertain about spending the long-term future with the Parisian side. Indeed, there was doubt that he was going to take up a €15 million option to return to the club from PSV last summer.

So this leaves the door open to a potential move next summer.

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Chelsea Simons' best option

Clearly, Simons will be seeking to take a step up in terms of the stature of club he plays his football for, and it is Chelsea that offer him the best prospects according to data analytics experts SciSports.

The Blues are the highest-rated Premier League side in SciSports’ career advice tool, and given his young age, he fits the profile of player Chelsea want.

Furthermore, he provides the type of cutting edge in the final third that the Stamford Bridge side are crying out for, even if he is not a centre forward.

But Chelsea face competition. Newcastle are only marginally behind them in the ranking. The Magpies have Champions League football this term and a growing reputation.

Beyond these clubs, PSG are the next-best major club for Simons, followed more distantly by Barcelona and Bayern Munich, who have made a habit of pinching the pick of the Bundesliga’s outstanding performers in recent years.

Simons, meanwhile, has earmarked himself as a player to watch this season and Chelsea would be negligent if they were not already doing so.

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