It shouldn't be unexpected that a promising and fairly young attacking midfield has caught the eye of Arsenal. On the day that captain Martin Odegaard was rested during the second half against PSV Eindhoven, a potential partner for him in the future emerged.
Xavi Simons, not a name new to lovers of European football or talented youngsters, was maybe the star of the show, alongside snippets of why Arsenal are so keen on signing Cody Gakpo still. The 19-year-old already has a prestigious set of teams on his career list, which is only set to increase.
Having been from Barcelona's La Masia, Paris Saint-Germain snapped him up as a 16-year-old but lost him to PSV earlier this year. His demonstration of immense talent on the European stage could already prove to be costly for the French side.
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Simons only had 28 touches but had two shots on target and recorded two passes without an assist. Eddie Nketiah was the only player for Arsenal to have more than one shot on target, and only Gabriel Martinelli played more key passes for the Gunners.
The Dutch international - who could be on show at the 2022 winter World Cup next month - also had a brilliant solo goal ruled out for offside.
His talents have long been sought after on the European market, and according to Fichajes, Liverpool and AC Milan could rival Mikel Arteta's men for him. As a young attacker with experience across the continent already in his career, Simons fits well into the blueprint being marked out at Arsenal.
Liverpool are also looking to repeat the tricks they used to sign Harvey Elliot and Fabio Carvalho from Fulham as promising attackers, whilst the Italian champions have developed some top forwards in recent years too. Simons has scored eight times in the league this year with four assists after joining from PSG. He only made seven Ligue 1 appearances in Paris but is already being trusted more by Rudd van Nistelrooy.
Having played against PSV twice now, Arsenal have seen Simons up close and have been impressed by his skills. With Edu's sharp eye for young players, if he can work some transfer magic and make use of the time spent around PSV directors, then maybe there is an advantage to be gained on the other interested parties.
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