Fabrizio Romano Transfer News: Xavi Simons BATTLE, Harry Kane RETURN, Paul Pogba to Man Utd

Tom Weber

• Updated: 2 Apr 2025 17:01 BST
• 6 min read

News

Fabrizio Romano has provided some massive updates on the biggest transfer stories from around Europe, including the latest on Xavi Simons, Paul Pogba and Harry Kane.

Kane going nowhere

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano confirmed that Harry Kane is not considering a Premier League return despite reports to the contrary.

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"Harry Kane keeps scoring an incredible amount of goals for Bayern, for the English national team. But in an interview with ESPN, Kane wanted to clarify something and I think it's important to put some points on that. Kane said in this interview how focused he is on the Bayern project.

"He doesn't understand where the links with Premier League clubs are coming from. There have been links with several clubs in the recent months, and we can say that there is always in the English media this feeling that one day Kane can go back to the Premier League, it's absolutely something that we have to respect because it could be part of the game.

"Of course, the striker of the English national team, a legend of the game for England like Kane, is obviously linked with the English clubs. But I can guarantee that there is no contact at all at this stage, nothing. The expectation is for Kane to stay at Bayern next season, to be part of the Bayern squad.

"Bayern will sign him backup in the summer because they need one more offensive player also because Mathys Tel at the moment is at Tottenham, so it's important to see what kind of strategy Bayern will do, but Kane is fully focused on Bayern. Kane never had any sort of contact with Liverpool, with Man Utd.

"What about Tottenham? Tottenham have that buy clause. They can match eventual proposals for Kane, but remember that it's very clear in the contract - it's always Kane deciding. So there is no chance for any club, Tottenham or any other, to make any decision if Kane doesn't go and says, 'OK, I want to leave, I want to go.'

"Now, the full focus of Kane is on Bayern. He's very happy at the club. He's very happy with the new coach, Vincent Kompany. He can see the project. He knows that at Bayern many things are going to change in the summer. Bayern are expected to bring in important players, several players. And so refreshing the squad in a sense."

READ MORE: Slot finds Liverpool a creative maestro - Romano reports €71m deal

Premier League battle for Simons

Romano then revealed that there could be a Premier League battle for RB Leipzig attacker Xavi Simons, who dreams of rejoining Barcelona.

"In January, RB Leipzig and PSG agreed a deal for Xavi Simons to go on permanent transfer to Leipzig. So the transfer fee was around €50-55 million plus add-ons up to €80m. But my understanding is that Simons has concrete possibilities of leaving Leipzig already in this summer transfer window.

"It's not a guarantee, but it's a concrete possibility. There are movements, and my understanding is that for something around €70-75m, there is a chance to strike a deal for Simons. The player has one big dream since day one, and it's playing for Barcelona. The player would love to be at Barcelona one day. He was in the academy when he was a wonderkid

"But we know Barcelona for this summer, there is the Financial Fair Play situation. They have several offensive players. They already signed a player from Leipzig one year ago, Dani Olmo. So there are several things to clarify. I'm not saying that there is a negotiation. I'm just saying on the player's side, one day he dreams of playing at Barcelona.

"And then there is Premier League because the Premier League is the most concrete opportunity. Obviously, paying €70-75m for Premier League clubs is not that difficult as it could be for Spanish clubs. Premier League clubs were already interested one year ago because there was interest from Arsenal, there was interest from Chelsea, there was interest from Man Utd, when Erik Ten Hag was the coach, but this remains the case, he's still a player they appreciate.

"Also Liverpool are well informed on the situation. All these clubs have been calling to be informed on the situation of Simons. Now, it's still early, we still don't have any advanced stage of negotiation or contacts, but the situation could be open in the summer. And all these clubs are watching closely what happens between Leipzig and Simons."

Pogba not returning to Man Utd

Regarding the situation of free agent Paul Pogba, Romano reiterated that there is no chance of him returning to Man Utd.

"Paul Pogba is available. He is ready, he's training on a regular basis. He can play professional football. The ban is over. But Olympique Marseille, as the president, Pablo Longoria, said rejected the possibility to sign Pogba. This was a club decision.

"There was nothing with Man City despite all the rumours in December and January. Let me say that also we had rumours in February, March, about a Man Utd return, this romantic return of Pogba. What I can guarantee is that Man Utd were never considering that decision. With all respect and the affection they can have for Pogba, they want to go in a completely different direction.

"Young players, investing in players with a completely different pathway and also salary. So for Man Utd, it was not a topic in the recent months. And also, I can guarantee that even now or for the summer, forget about Pogba and Man Utd. It's different clubs. Now, for different clubs, it could be an opportunity to go for Pogba, but I don't think it's going to be about Man Utd or Man City."

Real Madrid want to keep control of Paz

Lastly, Romano provided an update on the situation of Nico Paz at Como.

"Nico Paz is who is doing fantastic at Como in Serie A. I wanted to clarify one thing, Como are fighting to keep Paz at the club for one more season. So Como's idea is to have Paz also next season, to guarantee him the chance to play on a regular basis, as he's done this season in a fantastic way under Cesc Fabregas.

"Como are really pushing with Real Madrid to keep the player at the club for one more season. Now, it's on Real Madrid, but my understanding is that Real Madrid don't want to lose control of Paz because they really like what they see from Nico. They have three different buy-back clauses for Paz, €8m, €9m and €10m for the next three years.

"Imagine how cheap it would be for Real Madrid to bring the player back after they got €6.5m from Como for the 50% of the player one year ago. So Real Madrid don't want to lose control of the player. Now the strategy must be whether they want to accept for Paz to stay at Como for one more season, or maybe recall the player immediately and find a different loan solution.

"They believe Nico's skills are really special. He's already part of the Argentina national team. Carlo Ancelotti obviously monitors Italian football a lot and he saw the progress of the player. So the feeling at Real Madrid is that they don't want to lose control of Nico. Now it depends on the agreement they will do with Como, what kind of strategy they will have."