Paris Saint-Germain attacker Lionel Messi has reportedly warned Barcelona manager Xavi against a move for namesake and former academy graduate Xavi Simons.
The 18-year-old, who missed the penalty in PSG’s French Cup exit to Nice on Monday, came through Barca’s academy but left the club in 2019 after being offered a huge deal by the Ligue 1 giants.
Barcelona were far from happy with the nature of Simons’ exit, with the player having been billed as the next big talent to make the grade at the Spanish club.
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Despite their acrimonious parting of ways, Catalan newspaper El Nacional claim that the La Liga club had been considering bringing the youngster back to Barcelona in the summer.
Simons will be out of contract with PSG at the end of the campaign and his agent, Mino Raiola, has been sounding out Barca’s hierarchy regarding the possibility of a return to Catalunya.
But El Nacional’s report claims Xavi recently reached out to Messi to discuss whether it would be a good idea to re-sign the player and received a less-than-flattering report.
Messi spoke with Xavi over dinner to celebrate the manager’s birthday recently and advised against signing Simons, saying many of the issues Barca had with him as a youngster are still present.
Simons is believed to lack humility and believes he is better than he is despite his tender years, with the teenager repeating the same mistakes he made at Barcelona.
Chief among them is his contract demands, with Simons – who asked for a massive salary with Barca despite not yet turning pro – asking PSG for a salary equivalent of an established first-team player despite only making three league appearances in his career.
As such, Xavi will not approve of the deal for Barcelona to re-sign Simons even though he is available on a free.
