Bayern Munich enter race to sign Chelsea target Xavi Simons
The London club are understood to be in direct talks with Simons' club RB Leipzig.
However, Chelsea's negotiations could be complicated by German champions Bayern Munich expressing an interest.
Netherlands international Simons is a Barcelona youth product who moved to Paris St Germain in 2019.
Simons signed a permanent deal with RB Leipzig in January (Martin Rickett/PA)
He spent a season with PSV Eindhoven in 2022-23 before returning to PSG under a buy-back clause.
He spent the 2023-24 season on loan to RB Leipzig before making the move permanent in January of this year.
Bayern declined to comment regarding Simons. Chelsea have been approached for comment.
It has been reported that Chelsea's deal for Simons could involve Carney Chukwuemeka moving in the opposite direction.
Chukwuemeka spent the second half of last season on loan to Borussia Dortmund.
Chelsea have already brought in forward Joao Pedro from Brighton for a reported £60million, as well as Jamie Gittens from Dortmund.
Noni Madueke has left the Blues to join Arsenal, while goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic is another to have departed Stamford Bridge so far this summer.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
7 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Granit Xhaka closes in on move to Sunderland after £17m deal agreed with Bayer Leverkusen
Granit Xhaka is closing in on a move to Sunderland after they agreed a £17m (€19.58m) deal with Bayer Leverkusen for the former Arsenal midfielder. Xhaka has been eager to return to the Premier League and now has his wish after Sunderland agreed to pay £13m (€14.9m) upfront for the 32-year-old Switzerland international, with the remaining £4m (€4.6m) made up of add-ons. All going well, Xhaka will sign a three-year deal with Régis Le Bris's newly promoted side. Leverkusen's head coach, Erik ten Hag, was keen on keeping Xhaka at Leverkusen having already lost Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Jonathan Tah this summer. Xhaka was also part of the side that won the German double and reached the Europa League final in 2024. He was also an integral member of the team that finished second to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga last season, as well as featuring 10 times in the Champions League. Le Bris wanted to add greater Premier League experience to his midfield and had enquired about the availability of Jordan Henderson before the former Sunderland player elected to join Brentford after leaving Ajax. During Xhaka's seven years at Arsenal he won the FA Cup twice and, overall, made 297 appearances for the club. Xhaka would become Sunderland's seventh signing of the summer, following in the footsteps of Habib Diarra, Noah Sadiki, Simon Adingra. Chemsdine Talbi, Reinildo Mandava and Enzo Le Fée. Of the new arrivals only Adingra has prior Premier League experience having made 60 appearances for Brighton. Meanwhile, Xhaka's fellow Swiss international Dan Ndoye remains a target for Nottingham Forest, who are working on a deal to sign the winger from Bologna. Talks between both clubs have taken place in recent weeks and there is optimism a deal can be agreed for a player who is keen on moving to England. Guardian
RTÉ News
8 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Serie A pace will suit Evan Ferguson's style after AS Roma move
Evan Ferguson has been at AS Roma officially for less than a week, but he seems to be making an impression on the club's vociferous supporters. The Republic of Ireland international has been getting minutes into his legs, scoring four goals in a training match against minnows UniPomezia, who have been recently promoted to Italy's Serie D. Then on Saturday, he found the net again against German second division side and multiple former Bundesliga champions Kaiserslautern, nicking the ball off the goalkeeper and rolling it into an empty net in the 1-0 friendly win. The fact that neither game was a competitive one should of course temper expectations about what the 20-year-old could achieve in Serie A during his season-long loan. But crucially, unlike last season, he will have had a full and injury-free pre-season under his belt going into the campaign and he is going in with less expectation around him after seeing his progress stall somewhat over the past year. On that, former Drogheda United and Shamrock Rovers defender Graham Gartland also feels the style of play in Italy will suit Ferguson down to a tee as he told this week's RTÉ Soccer Podcast. "He strikes me as a player that needs games to get his match sharpness up," said Gartland, a former team-mate of Ferguson's father Barry at Longford Town in 2003 and 2004. "But he can ease into that a little bit. He has a good pre-season behind him in Italy and once that comes, his sharpness comes. And once his sharpness comes, then he is a different player. "Because he is quite tall and he has a presence about him, that's where he has a chance to go and work on his feet, and the pace of the play in Italy will be different to the Premier League and I think that will suit him as well. "You see it with the likes of Edin Dzeko who went there from Man City and he did really well and he strikes me as a similar player to that, that the tempo of the game might be a bit slower and it would allow him just to build into that." In the wake of Ferguson's friendly cameos, Roma's new manager Gian Piero Gasperini, who enjoyed success over a long period with Atalanta - including on Irish soil when he led the Bergamo club to Europa League glory at Aviva Stadium in May 2024 - has spoken about the need to make the most of his talents, saying: "We need to get to know Evan and exploit his depth. In some situations, we could have looked for him more." And former Brighton, Celtic, Shamrock Rovers and Dundalk midfielder Richie Towell pointed to the player who netted the Europa League final hat-trick for Atalanta as an example of how Gasperini can improve players. "I think with a manager like Gasperini there, I think he's really going to take Evan under his wing and make him a proper, proper player this season," he said on the podcast. "You see what he's done with Ademola Lookman. Lookman was kind of in a little bit of a similar situation to Evan where he was doing ok but you were waiting on that flame to ignite; where he went to Gasperini at Atalanta and that Atalanta side were amazing - high energy, lots of shots on target, balls into the box, I loved the way they played - so if Evan can mimic anything like what Ademola Lookman did, he'll have a great season."
The 42
9 hours ago
- The 42
Luis Diaz leaves Liverpool training camp to finalise Bayern Munich move
LIVERPOOL FORWARD LUIS Diaz has left the club's training camp in Japan to finalise his move to Bayern Munich. A fee of €75million was agreed on Sunday after the Bundesliga champions returned with an offer closer to what the club consider to be the Colombia international's market value. Diaz was given permission to leave and has now departed Tokyo, where the team are preparing for Wednesday's match against Yokohama F. Marinos, for Germany. The forward, who turns 29 in January, had been pushing for a move since last summer and after two attempts to agree an extension to the two years he has remaining on his contract failed due to the gap in expectations, Liverpool reluctantly accepted his departure was inevitable – but only for a suitable price. Advertisement Hugo Ekitike's arrival last week means the club have already bolstered their attacking options and they maintain an interest in Newcastle's wantaway striker Alexander Isak. The completion of the sale of Diaz, who cost the club £42m plus £3.4m in add-ons, will see Liverpool's income from transfers in the last year top £190m.
