“I was jokingly wondering”: 19-year-old Netherlands starlet warned not to join Chelsea

Former Netherlands international has warned Xavi Simons to not join Chelsea

Speaking on Veronica Inside (h/t Football.London), former Netherlands international Marciano Vink has warned PSV Eindhoven star Xavi Simons to not join Chelsea if an offer comes.

Chelsea have been linked with Simons for some time now, with reports in December claiming that they were in the race with Manchester United to sign the Dutch international.

Simons, a former youth player at Paris-Saint Germain and Barcelona joined PSV last summer on a free transfer. He is having an excellent first season in the Eredivisie.

Here’s what Vink said when asked about the future of the 19-year-old (h/t Football.London):

“He [Simons] radiates a lot of fun and just keeps going.

“I was jokingly wondering if you can outgrow the Eredivisie within a year, but Simons proves it from the start and is decisive at PSV. I hope he stays after this season. If he were to go to Chelsea or return to Paris Saint-Germain, he would get much less playing time and his development would stagnate. Then you better go to a modest club in the Champions League where you can still be the man.

“Couldn’t a club like Benfica be a next step for him? Napoli, or Borussia Dortmund? He can be challenged there again. Just look at Noni Madueke. That was such a great talent at PSV and when he left everyone spoke about a big loss for PSV.”

Simons is an attacking midfielder who can comfortably play either side of the forward line as a winger. In his first season for PSV, he has scored 17 goals and assisted nine in 40 appearances in all competitions. He played most games either as a number 10 or a left winger.

The former PSG player is a technically strong player who possesses excellent dribbling skills, has a decent pace to trouble the last line of the opposition and can produce a good volume of the final product in and around the opposition box.

If Chelsea sign him, there is no harm. But, Vink is right about the youngster not getting enough game time at Stamford Bridge.

We already have a lot of players in the attacking midfield department. We in fact could do with offloading some in the summer after buying a crazy number of players in the last two windows.

So, as much as Simons is a quality young player whose ceiling is high, Chelsea should be sensible and not sign him in the coming transfer window.

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The Blues can instead focus on signing a striker and bolster the midfield department with fresher legs in there.