Barcelona rule out move for €45 million-rated former La Masia pearl

Barcelona have definitively ended speculation linking them with a summer return for Xavi Simons, the 22-year-old Dutch attacking midfielder who left La Masia in 2019. Despite persistent rumours and fresh reports that the Catalan giants were weighing up an approach, club sources have told SPORT that no pursuit is planned.

Simons, who joined Tottenham Hotspur last year for €60 million, has struggled to lift the north-London side away from the Premier League’s lower reaches while also suffering Champions-League elimination at the hands of Atlético Madrid. Spurs’ disappointing campaign has fuelled talk of an early exit, with a valuation of around €45 million now attached to the former Barcelona academy standout.

Barcelona’s decision, however, is final. The club’s sporting hierarchy cite both economic and philosophical reasons for stepping away. A fee of that magnitude would collide with the club’s tightly-controlled budget, and priority targets elsewhere in the market make such an outlay unfeasible. Equally significant, officials believe re-signing a player who previously opted to depart could undermine the message being sent to current academy prospects: the pathway to the first team is reserved for those who commit to the club’s long-term project.

Consequently, Simons will not be pulling on the blaugrana shirt next season, and attention at Camp Nou will remain fixed on reinforcing other areas of the squad while continuing to promote homegrown talent.