Xavi Simons is a great asset that PSG is keeping up its sleeve for the near future. After a very successful 2022/2023 financial year at PSV Eindhoven, the player trained at La Masia of FC Barcelona went on loan to Leipzig this season. And in German lands, it’s a hit. He thus displays 7 goals and 10 assists in 28 Bundesliga matches, and is clearly one of the best young people in the Old Continent.
On the Paris side, we don’t miss a bit of its progress. As revealed by us exclusively at the beginning of the month, Luis Enrique asked his management for his return for next season. Luis Campos is also very keen to make him a place in the team for the resumption of Ligue 1 next August. Of course, he will need guarantees of playing time, especially since Leipzig hopes to keep him for another season. At the same time, it is controversial in Germany.
Simons, not protected enough?
Rest assured, Xavi Simons did nothing wrong. On the contrary. But he saw a situation somewhat similar to what Neymar had experienced in La Liga or Ligue 1, namely being marked on the pants by his opponents and often the target of interventions that were, to say the least, forceful. Which made his coach Marco Rose come off his hinges during, and after, his team’s match against Wolfsburg. During a duel with Vranckx, Simons fell, and the referee gave him a yellow after judging that he had dived. Rose threw herself on the ground to protest, very vehemently.
After the meeting, he again defended his foal: “Every week there are problems with Xavi. He gets tackled, he takes it hard. Every time he speeds up, they put their hands up to grab him. In 90% of cases, he gets through it and moves forward. There, in the 90th minute, there was an intention to hang it. It was anything but a simulation. And it turns yellow. It’s very hard “. Enough to rekindle an eternal debate: should we better protect ball players? Should the players who put on the show benefit from a certain protection from the referees? Regardless, it’s generally a good sign to be at the heart of controversies like this for a player!
