Report: A ‘very real chance’ United pip City to ‘exquisite’ La Masia product with 25 G/A last season | OneFootball

Manchester United and Manchester City, who lock horns on Sunday for their first derby of the season, are preparing to vie for RB Leipzig starlet Xavi Simons.

That’s according to sources at CaughtOffside, who claim the ‘exquisite’ attacker is unlikely to extend his loan with Leipzig beyond the end of the campaign. There is also an expectation that he departs his parent club, Paris Saint-Germain, for pastures new, having failed to ever break his way into the Ligue 1 outfit’s first team.

Simons spent the 2021/2022 campaign with PSG and made only nine appearances in all competitions, starting just once in the league and being omitted from their Champions League fixtures entirely. As a result, he was sold to PSV Eindhoven in 2022, where he enjoyed a prolific year and was finally able to showcase his prolific attacking abilities to the world.

He notched 22 goals and 12 assists altogether, eventually claiming the division’s Golden Boot with his 19 Eredivisie goals. Such stellar showings prompted PSG to utilise their buyback option that subsequent summer, after which they loaned him out to Leipzig instantaneously.

Reds first in line to try and seal Xavi Simons coup

(Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)

The 21-year-old has now spent the last one-and-a-half years in Germany. He notched 25 goal contributions across the entirety of 2023/2024 but has endured a slower start to the term this time around after finding the back of the net only three times since 2024/2025 got underway.

That hasn’t stopped him from garnering widespread transfer interest, though. Clubs may believe they’re more likely to sway him after Leipzig’s torrid European run; they were knocked out of the UCL in the first phase after losing six straight group-stage matches.

CaughtOffside’s report states there’s ‘a very real chance’ United can pip their cross-city rivals to Simons’ signature in the summer window. However, they will also have to compete with Barcelona, who are keen on reuniting with their former academy product.

Arsenal, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Juventus are waiting in the wings to see how the Dutch whiz’s situation plays out.

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