He joined the Bundesliga for a potential £69m in January
It’s been a chastening transfer window for Newcastle United and the richest owners in football, as Benjamin Sesko joins an illustrious list of players who’ve turned down a move to St James’ Park, but with three weeks still go there’s still chance to turn things around and Eddie Howe can start by stealing a key target of one of the Magpies’ biggest tormentors this summer.
While their neighbours down the coast have completely overhauled their squad and appear the best-prepared promoted side to survive in the Premier League since Nottingham Forest three years ago years ago - certainly amongst playoff winners - the Magpies have spent just £52 million, making them the seventh-most miserly team in the division.
Newcastle’s owners have genuinely invested almost as much in Chelsea and more in Liverpool than they have in their own Premier League club this summer through bringing Joao Felix and Darwin Nunez to state-owned Saudi Pro League clubs for vastly inflated fees, with Elanga Newcastle’s only permanent signing for a fee this summer.
Albatross Aaron Ramsdale on loan and free teenager Antonito Cordero - who will spend the season at KVC Westerlo - are Newcastle’s only other additions to a squad not significantly deeper than the last time they entered the Champions League and were ravaged by injuries, slumping to seventh in the division and bottom of their European group.
Of course, it’s not for the want of trying. Eddie Howe has been told no more times this summer than Jamal Khashoggi pleading in vain for his life in the Saudi Arabian embassy in 2018, as Liam Delap, Joao Pedro, Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha, Hugo Ekitike and James Trafford have all moved elsewhere in the Premier League.
However, as the big six’s spending begins to slow with many of the big names available at the start of the window already rehomed, Newcastle still have time to strike and rescue the summer - and there’s no better place to start than by hijacking Chelsea’s bid to sign Xavi Simons from RB Leipzig.
Simons can transform Newcastle attack
England fans will need no reminder of how deadly Simons can be even from the most innocuous of situations after he gave the nation a heart attack last summer’s Euro 2024 semi-final.
It’s a goal that sums up a lot of what makes Simons so coveted - the foresight to see an opportunity to battle for the ball, the strength to outmuscle the much more imposing John Stones, the confidence and control to drive at the goal against a backpedalling defence and the foot like a traction engine to give Jordan Pickford no chance from outside the box.
Having completed his footballing education at La Masia, Simons’ IQ on the pitch (and maybe off it two, we’ve just never been in the same pub quiz as him) is second-to-none and his eye for a pass is matched only by his technical ability to play the perfect ball.
Simons’ 2.5 passes into the penalty area per game in the last year put him in the top 7% of similar players in Europe’s top five leagues per FBRef.com, level with Mohamed Salah, Bruno Fernandes and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s Premier League numbers and well ahead of any Newcastle player.
There isn’t an immediate hole for Simons to fill in Howe’s starting side but the 22-year-old’s positional flexibility - his Leipzig appearances split 54%-24%-22% from left to right - means a manager of that quality would be sure to find a space for him especially for a team involved in four competitions next season.
Newcastle can disrupt Chelsea pursuit
For a transfer that appeared done and dusted earlier this week, Simons’ move to Chelsea has been far from smooth.
If he completes his move to Chelsea, Simons will be competing against no less than six or seven players for the three attacking spots behind Maresca’s striker - three of whom have been signed this transfer window - including the undroppable Cole Palmer.
By contrast, Newcastle can also offer Champions League football and a much clearer route to the first team.
Remember, Chelsea lost out on Mike Maignan earlier this summer because they were inexplicably unwilling to raise their bid by less than £9m to meet AC Milan’s valuation of one of the best goalkeepers in the world who would certainly be an upgrade on Robert Sanchez.
Which means now is the time for Newcastle to lock in, meet Leipzig’s demand head on and punish Chelsea’s hardball tactics by capturing their second marquee signing of the summer from right underneath Enzo Maresca’s nose.
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