Chelsea remain confident they can sign both Xavi Simons and Alejandro Garnacho, rather than one or the other.
The Blues’ recruitment team have been in direct talks to sign both players for a number of weeks now, and confidence remains high that both deals can eventually be done.
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Standard Sport understands Chelsea wish to sign both players this summer and are working on securing player sales, which would accelerate the arrival of RB Leipzig’s Simons and Manchester United’s Garnacho. Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson are two players who will leave if suitable exits can be resolved.
United are braced for Chelsea to bid for Garnacho, who wants regular game time for a major club this season after he was told by Red Devils head coach Ruben Amorim three months ago that he is not part of his plans and is free to leave Old Trafford.
The 21-year-old will not be sold on the cheap, United insist, yet Chelsea are thought to believe they can sign him affordably. Matt Hargreaves, United’s director of football negotiations, and Christopher Vivell, the club’s director of recruitment, will take a front seat in talks over Garnacho.
Xavi Simons has removed reference to RB Leipzig in his Instagram biography as a way of making it clear he wants the move. He has told his current employers that he only wants to join Chelsea, despite being linked with Manchester City and Bayern Munich.
Simons would cost the Blues more than Garnacho, yet the recruitment team are assured he is a target worth pursuing and have been in active talks for weeks. His anticipated high transfer fee partly explains why Chelsea are intent on not overspending on Garnacho.
Dutch international Simons played the full 90 minutes of Leipzig’s DFB Pokal first-round tie on Saturday, scoring and providing an assist in a 4-2 victory over fourth-tier Sandhausen.
