It seems that Xavi Hernandez and Pep Guardiola could be in direct competition for a former Barcelona graduate next summer if reports from Spain are accurate.
The Catalans are one of the last remaining unbeaten teams on the continent this season but Xavi would be the first to admit that his emerging side are a long way behind his former coach’s finished article.
That’s not to say that Barca won’t get back to where they belong at European football’s top table of course. In order for them to do that, however, they will need to be in the market for the top talents available.
Paris Saint-Germain loaned Xavi Simons to RB Leipzig for the entirety of the 2023/24 campaign, and the 20-year-old Dutchman’s performances already has everyone sitting up and taking notice.
Simons came through Barcelona’s La Masia academy before moving to PSG, and it’s the French club that hold all the aces as far as a transfer elsewhere is concerned.
According to Fichajes, once the player’s loan has finished, PSG will make a decision on whether to sell Simons permanently, as they did to PSV Eindhoven in 2022, or loan him out again.
The player himself will clearly have a say in what happens in his career too, and there are cogent reasons why he could prefer a move back to a club he knows well, or try a new experience in the Premier League.