Xavi Simons reportedly did not train with RB Leipzig team on Friday and is not expected to be part of the squad to face Serie A side, Atalanta today as the Dutch international want to force his move to Chelsea, despite interest from Bayern Munich.
Chelsea have already signed three attackers this summer in Jamie Gittens, Liam Delap and Joao Pedro, whilst they are looking to make the 22-year-old, Xavi Simons the fourth. He scored 11 goals and registered eight assists in 33 appearances for Leipzig in all competitions last season.
Chelsea are in negotiations with Leipzig over a move for the 22-year-old, and the German club are demanding a fee of £60million.
As Chelsea prepare their first official bid, Softfootball eagle eyes spotted that the winger also removed reference to Leipzig in his Instagram profile in what has been described as a sign that he is determined to force a move to Chelsea sooner rather than later.
Fabrizio Romano via his X handle provided a major update on the transfer saga that Simons who is currently part of Leipzig’s pre-season camp has refused to train with the team ahead of their clash against Serie A side, Atalanta today.
The tweet read:
“EXCL: Xavi Simons did not train with RB Leipzig group on Friday… and he’s not expected to be part of the squad today.
“His decision is clearly oriented to Chelsea move, after deleting Leipzig from Instagram bio.
“Negotiations at advanced stages between Chelsea and Leipzig”.
Negotiations are expected to continue as Chelsea weigh up whether to meet RB Leipzig’s asking price for Simons. The Blues could return with a fresh offer later in the window if his agent Ali Barat, who has good relations with the World Champions finds a breakthrough. Meanwhile, other midfield options may be explored as a backup plan.
