Future of 'world class' Newcastle target now set to be decided imminently - Fabrizio Romano

Newcastle United look set to miss out another 'world-class' talent this summer as Dutch international is set to make up his mind over where he will be playing next season.

While Newcastle never really seemed likely to be his next destination, it still stings to see Dutch wonderkid Xavi Simons heading elsewhere after such an impressive Euro 2024.

The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder looks set to head out on loan again for this third season as a senior PSG player. After graduating from the youth set up after making a switch from Barcelona, Simons made seven appearances for PSG before being sold to PSV. PSG inserted a €6million buy-back clause into his deal which they activated just one season later before sending the youngster back out on loan to RB Leipzig last season.

It's quite a bizarre career, but PSG must be very confident in their squad if they can't find a place for a 'world-class' youngster like Simons.

Xavi Simons looks set to be going back to Leipzig

While many clubs have held a strong interest in Simons, Paris Saint-Germain have always maintained that he is not for sale, but they would sanction another loan move.

Newcastle were reportedly amongst the suitors along with Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Barcelona, but Fabrizio Romano believes that the 21-year-old has made up his mind where he'll be playing next season.

After a successful stint in the last campaign, Simons looks set to return to RB Leipzig for another year.

Could Newcastle realistically make a move for Xavi Simons next year?

We wonder at what point PSG will deem Simons ready for a place in their first-team squad, and whether Newcastle, or any other side, can persuade them to part with him permanently before then.

It would be amazing if Newcastle could kick on this season and get back into the Champions League so that next summer we could use it as a bargaining tool to bring in players of Simons' quality, if not Simons himself.

There's no reason why we can't. We've done it once and with a clean season without so many injuries, we can definitely do it again, especially if we manage to add a bit more quality this summer.