A Dutch international could be Manchester City’s solution to their creativity issues | OneFootball

The international break is a welcome opportunity to have a break from all on-pitch matters at Manchester City for a fortnight. But the UEFA Nations League and various other World Cup qualifiers that are currently being played are an opportunity to get a glimpse of players that Manchester City could potentially sign in the summer. One of those players who played a key role for his country overnight was Dutch international Xavi Simons.

The RB Leipzig playmaker came off the bench for the Netherlands overnight in their 3-all draw with Spain. Spain eventually beat the Dutch 5-4 on penalties after their two-legged UEFA Nations League quarter-final tie ended 5-all on aggregate. The game was a thrilling contest, but from a Manchester City point of view, Xavi Simons showed exactly what he could potentially bring to Pep Guardiola’s squad. Manchester City are screaming out for creativity in midfield and the final third and that’s something that the Dutch international could add in abundance.

Xavi Simons quality stood out last night.

Xavi Simons replaced Justin Kluivert in the 78th minute of last night’s match. From the moment he stepped onto the pitch against Spain he changed the match. He picked up an assist when he set up Ian Maatsen to score in the 79th minute with a sublime pass. Simons also got himself on the scoresheet as he calmly converted a penalty in the 109th minute of last night’s match. But that only tells part of the story of Simons’ performance.

The clip above demonstrates the quality of Xavi Simons. Being a product of Barcelona’s famed academy system the Dutch international is a quality player in possession. He is also a dangerous player in the final third and all of those skills would slot into Pep Guardiola’s squad. Simons played two key passes and also won 3 of his 5 duels in statistics sourced from SofaScore. It was an all-action display from the RB Leipzig playmaker, and you could see how he’d fit into the current Manchester City squad based on his performance last night.

Manchester City have reportedly made a move for Xavi Simons, but he won’t come cheap, and last night further illustrated this point.

A report from Spanish publication Fichajes has emerged which states that Manchester City are prepared to pay €110 million to sign Xavi Simons this summer. It remains to be seen if City are willing to spend such a large sum to sign the Dutch international. Christian Falk has previously reported that RB Leipzig would consider a bid of over €70 million to sell Xavi Simons. So perhaps City will be willing to pay a transfer fee between those two figures to sign the Dutch international.

Watching Xavi Simons play last night you can see where he’d fit in Pep Guardiola’s squad. That stood out after he came on in last night’s match. At times I’ve felt that he is a player who sits just below Florian Wirtz as the ideal De Bruyne replacement so to speak. But Xavi Simons is a quality player with his best years ahead of him. That’s exactly the type of player Manchester City need and his impressive display last night showed just how he could fit into the City squad. Now it remains to be seen if Manchester City do move for him this summer.