Juan Jose Lahuerta
Madrid, 13 Feb. Xavi Simons smiles at PSV Eindhoven. He feels loved at a club after three seasons away from the spotlight and virtually ostracized at a behemoth called Paris Saint-Germain. Without a place in the France team, he packed his bags for the Netherlands this summer and is now a benchmark for Sevilla’s next rival in the Europa League.
Although it now sounds like a joke, Simons came to the entity chaired by Jan Albers for free. The young Dutch gem surprised after breaking a verbal agreement with PSG to extend his contract, which ended in June 2023. His initial idea was to extend his relationship with the French team in exchange for a loan to the PSV.
However, in a last-minute move, Simons signed with PSV until 2027 and parted ways with the Paris entity, which saved a four million euro termination clause that could be activated at the end of the term. course.
It is the best decision taken by a 19-year-old player who is today a reference in Dutch football. After the halfway point, his performances did not go unnoticed. He was finally able to harness some of the qualities that were aimed high in Barcelona’s youth academy and didn’t surface in the rare 18 games he played in top-flight football with Paris Saint-Germain, where over the course of two seasons he alternated minutes between the lower categories and the first team.
FROM PSG OSTRACISM TO PROTAGONISM AT PSV
The palm of the millionaire figures who populate the world of PSG did not suggest more minutes for a player in lack of experience who wanted to take a leap in his career. And at PSV Eindhoven, a seemingly minor club in Europe, he found the ideal place to project his career towards future, larger-scale continental goals.
At the end of June, John de Jong, sporting director of the Dutch entity, was euphoric after having closed the signing of Simons: “We have seen almost all of his matches this season. He has also been seen living in the Youth League in Leipzig, Paris, Bruges, Manchester and against Sevilla. He convinced us. Xavi has what it takes to become an important player for PSV. He’s ready to do it.”
One of the culprits behind Simons’ arrival at PSV Eindhoven was his current coach, Ruud van Nistelrooy. The former Real Madrid player insisted on signing him for a long time. And, when he achieved his goal, he quickly found himself well-disposed by what is now his franchise player.
“PSV is a great club. The ambition expressed by the management made me even more enthusiastic. I spoke quickly with the coach and he told me a lot about the club’s project. I know how he wants to play and how he sees my role,” Simons said after leaving PSG.
SIMONS EXPLODES IN EIGHT MONTHS
Since June 29 when his signing for PSV was announced until now, Simons has not stopped growing. He has accumulated 30 official matches (5 in the Europa League, 2 in the qualifying phase of the Champions League, 20 in the Eredivisie, a couple in the Dutch Cup and another in the Super Cup) during which he scored 13 goals -the last was a great goal against Groningen this Saturday- and 5 assists.
His influence on the PSV game, beyond the numbers, is total and some authorized voices in the Netherlands are already warning about his potential. For example, Rafael Van der Vaart, who is aiming high: “I think he is the best player in the Dutch team at the moment. If I were Koeman, I would build the team around him,” said the former Real Madrid player.
Simons arrived quietly and made a lot of noise. Initially, he was in the shadow of PSV big star Cody Gakpo, who was upgraded at the World Cup in Qatar. His departure to Liverpool for 42 million euros on the winter market left the way completely clear for Simons, who is now the great reference of his team.
Sevilla will no longer find an unknown player. Simons no longer doubts his projection. After fearing the ostracism he suffered at PSG, he has the experience to establish himself as a PSV franchise player at just 19 years old. And its market value is rising like foam.
He’s already going for 18 million euros and more. At the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, a first-class stage, Simons will be looking to monopolize more of the spotlight. And he will do so with the stripes of captain general, something unimaginable a few months ago, when he wandered aimlessly in the bowels of Paris Saint-Germain. EFE
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