'DON'T sign him' - Messi told club to stay AWAY from Arsenal-linked wonderkid

Tom Weber

• Updated: 19 May 2023 05:55 BST
• 3 min read

Arsenal are being strongly linked with PSV wonderkid Xavi Simons, but the greatest footballer of all time is not a fan of the young man.

According to reports from the Catalan press, Lionel Messi previously advised Barcelona against re-signing the Dutchman, with whom he played together at Paris Saint-Germain before he eventually moved to PSV due to a lack of first-team opportunities.

El Nacional claims that Messi and Barcelona coach Xavi met for a birthday dinner last year at which they discussed a potential move for Simons, who was on an expiring contract at PSG at the time. The now-20-year-old came through Barcelona's famous La Masia academy, but was poached by the French giants, where he teamed up with Messi.

READ: Arsenal to battle PSG and Bayern for Bundesliga starlet

The Argentine World Cup winner, however, reportedly told Xavi not to re-sign the youngster on a free that summer. Around the time of the alleged dinner, PSG were eliminated from the French cup in a penalty shootout in which Simons missed the decisive spot-kick. Could this have contributed to Messi's opinion?

Thriving at PSV

Since then, things have changed dramatically for Simons. Instead of returning to Barcelona, the young attacker went to his native Netherlands where has been thriving with PSV.

Simons has racked up a very impressive 19 goals and 12 assists this term, being heavily linked with another move this summer. Ironically, he was at one point touted as a potential replacement for Messi, who will leave PSG in the upcoming weeks when his contract expires.

READ: Arsenal dodged Mudryk trap once but must do it again with summer target

More recently, reports from the Netherlands suggested that there is concrete interest from Arsenal who played against Simons' PSV in the Europa League earlier in the season. The same reports claim that the youngster could be had for less than €30 million. The 20-year-old's Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) peaked at €42.4m in April.