Former PSV Eindhoven manager Aad de Mos believes he has spotted a sign that Xavi Simons could be on his way to Premier League giants Arsenal this summer.
Mikel Arteta’s side found out first-hand, a few months ago, just how terrifying Simons can be when in full flow.
The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain wonderkid ran rings around Arsenal’s backline during a Europa League group-stage at the Philips Stadium.
The then-19-year-old certainly would not have looked out of place in the visitors’ XI.
In fact, if you asked a fleet of world-leading scientists to design you the prototype of the ‘typical Arsenal attacker’, the end result may look quite a bit like Simons. Diminutive but devastating; skipping through a crowd of legs like a deer through a forest while drifting into the kind of half-spaces Santi Cazorla, Cesc Fabregas, Mesut Ozil and now Martin Odegaard did so much of their best work.
Could PSV Eindhoven star Xavi Simons join Arsenal?
According to Fabrizio Romano, Simons is now joining forces with agent Darren Dein following the premature death of Mino Raiola.
Dein is the son of former Arsenal chairman David Dein. And De Mos believes that Simons siding with an English representative boasting plenty of connections at Arsenal may point at a potential future at the Emirates Stadium for one of Europe’s most exciting young forwards.
“It indicates that he is searching (for his next move),” De Mos tells Eindhovens Dagblad. “Maybe he’s thinking about Arsenal. His new agents have many contacts at Arsenal.”
Dein’s Doubled agency, according to Transfermarkt, also represents Fabregas, Mathieu Flamini, Gael Clichy and Alex Song. All former Arsenal players.
One Eredivisie pundit has suggested that Simons ‘might be better’ than former PSV talisman Cody Gakpo, having mustered 19 goals and 11 assists during a remarkable first season in senior football.
Rafael van der Vaaart, meanwhile, is in no doubt that Simons is on his way to becoming a truly ‘world-class’ talent.
“It’s starting to get a bit boring. (We talk) about him every week!” jokes the former Ajax, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur playmaker. “But it’s nice to have a player like that.”
“I look at the potential. How good can someone become in the future? With Xavi Simons, everything makes me very happy. Absolutely (he can be world-class).”
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