Tottenham have now made an offer for Xavi Simons, but he’s already agreed personal terms with Chelsea. This all feels very Eberechi Eze.
Even assuming Chelsea complete the £35-40m signing of Alejandro Garnacho from Manchester United, Christopher Nkunku’s seemingly imminent move to AC Milan for roughly the same fee will mean the Blues’ net spend this summer will still be roughly zero despite it ranking comfortably in the top ten biggest transfer windows of all time.
An exit for Axel Disasi looks set to further boost their coffers, with Saudi Pro League side NEOM the very welcome suitors now rivalling Sunderland and Bournemouth for the Frenchman’s signature. And Nicolas Jackson could yet provide a significant windfall this summer as Chelsea reportedly wait for a conclusion to the Alexander Isak saga to see if Newcastle’s – or indeed Liverpool’s – desperate chase for a striker leads them to make a late bid for the Senegal striker.
At the very least it looks as though Bayern Munich are willing to pay a hefty loan fee for his services, with Chelsea doing their level best to ensure an obligation to buy next summer.
In short, Chelsea have cash to burn with more yet to come. And that’s a problem for Tottenham.
Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg has revealed that Tottenham have now ‘officially submitted an offer’ for the Netherlands international.
Plettenberg wrote on X: ‘EXCLUSIVE | Tottenham have now officially submitted an offer to RB Leipzig for #Xavi Simons! It is already close to the offer that RB are expecting – €70 million all-in. No offer from Chelsea yet. #CFC.’
Chelsea have though agreed personal terms with Simons, who told RB Leipzig weeks ago that he wanted to move to Stamford Bridge. It’s as yet unclear how the 22-year-old feels about a potential move to Tottenham. Fabrizio Romano claims he has ‘arrived in London with his camp in order to clarify future move soon’.
Tottenham’s need is far greater than Chelsea’s. After James Maddison’s long-term injury, their failure to prise Morgan Gibbs-White from Wolves, Eberechi Eze’s snub in favour of Arsenal and Aston Villa shutting the door to Morgan Rogers’ exit, they’re almost at Newcastle striker levels of desperation in their bid to get a new playmaker through the door.
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For Chelsea however, as is the case with Garnacho, it feels as though Simons is barely a want, let alone a need. Ousting Cole Palmer from the starting lineup is an impossibility anyway, and even if he’s injured as he was for West Ham and likely again for Fulham on Saturday, Enzo Fernandez proved himself perfectly capable of playing in that No.10 position when asked to last season by Enzo Maresca, who has also confirmed Joao Pedro as an option for that role.
No one will be claiming Chelsea are light on attacking players if Simons ends up at Tottenham. But such is their position of financial strength after Champions League qualification, the Club World Cup win and an excellent selling summer, Chelsea might just consider buying Simons – who they do clearly like – merely to stop their title rivals (yes, that’s right) from getting him.
Tottenham are in the same spot Newcastle found themselves in when trying to sign Hugo Ekitike and then Benjamin Sesko, with Chelsea the Big Boy here instead of Liverpool or Manchester United, or indeed what they themselves endured when Arsenal decided they actually did quite fancy Eberechi Eze, thank you very much.
Having been sold on the idea of Chelsea well over a month ago, Simons will have spent most of his time since picturing his life at Stamford Bridge – the manager he will be working under, the players he’ll be playing with, the famed ‘project’ he will be a part of. As was clearly the case with Eze, pivoting from a dream destination isn’t easy.
The question is whether Tottenham can persuade Simons before Chelsea come calling, because if they do, we suspect Daniel Levy will be forced back to the drawing board once more.