According to Fabrizio Romano, Manchester United was the front-runner to capture Xavi Simons in the summer but ultimately fell short.
The Red Devils have had a difficult start to the season, and now Fabrizio Romano has added insult to injury by saying that United was in “pole position” to sign one of the most exciting players in international football but the deal never happened.
Xavi Simons, who is only 20 years old, has had a thrilling career. Prior to his breakthrough campaign with PSV last season, the Dutchman was a player on the books at Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain. Arsenal was one of the clubs were heavily connected with him this summer.
He was finally re-signed by PSG for a pitiful €6 million after the club exercised his buy-back clause, and he was afterwards loaned to RB Leipzig, where he has continued his stellar play from the previous campaign. The young player has had a productive start to his Bundesliga career, matching Erling Haaland and Paco Alcacer’s records of three goals and four assists in his first four games.
But this season, he may have been working at Old Trafford.
What did Romano say?
Romano claimed on his YouTube channel that Man Utd also regarded Xavi Simons as a potential player in the summer. They received some calls, and Erik ten Hag was really interested in signing Xavi Simons to join Manchester United, but then PSG used the unbelievable €6 million buy-back provision in their agreement with PSV Eindhoven.
Man United were in prime position to bring Xavi Simons to Old Trafford this summer, though, in the event that the player was planning to remain at PSV Eindhoven and [had] chosen against [accepting the PSG offer].
The player’s position was vital for that buy-back clause, so Xavi Simons had to decide whether to say “yes, okay, I’m coming back to PSG” or “I’m not coming back, I’m staying here at PSV or joining another club In that case, in the second option, Man Utd were the big favourites…”
