Chelsea currently possess one of the best midfields in the world, featuring the likes of Cole Palmer, Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, and Romeo Lavia. Additionally, their highly-rated youngster Andrey Santos is also ready to feature for the first-team in the FIFA Club World Cup tournament after an excellent loan spell at Strasbourg.
However, this hasn’t stopped the Blues from pursuing reinforcements to further strengthen their midfield. Earlier, the club was linked with Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers. But nothing is finalised as of yet, and various other clubs are also said to be interested in signing him, which make things difficult for Chelsea.
As a result, Chelsea are keeping tabs on some other players as well. According to reports the club has identified Xavi Simons as a top target for midfield.
Journalist Simon Phillips recently confirmed the Blues' interest in Simons in his Substack newsletter. As reported by The Chelsea Chronicle, he stated:
"But Chelsea have other options in those positions, and we have heard about a ‘new’ one again over the weekend.
“Chelsea have previous recent interest in Xavi Simons of RB Leipzig as we reported on this site at the time, but a source has mentioned him again to us over the weekend with something potentially brewing up there again.
“Simons can play wide or central in any of those attacking positions and would be perfect for what the club and Maresca want.
“There are other clubs looking at Simons as well but our source has simply said that Chelsea are ‘in for him’. Of course, we have known of this interest for a while but it’s interesting that his name has come up to us again now."
Chelsea identify Xavi Simons as a transfer target
Despite struggling with injuries this season and making only 25 Bundesliga appearances, Simons still managed to score 10 goals and provide 7 assists. That's fantastic output from the Dutch international.
With the number of games per season ever increasing, Simon’s versatility to play in multiple positions might come in handy for Chelsea. Also, at 22 years of age, he should only get better moving forward.
That said, the last time Chelsea brought in a talented youngster from RB Leipzig, it didn’t pan out the way the club would have wanted. Christopher Nkunku, who was on red-hot form in Germany before his arrival, has struggled with injuries and poor form, resulting in him making a limited impact for the Blues. Before him, Timo Werner struggled as well. So, the Blues might want to be absolutely certain before potentially making a move for Simons this summer.