Overview

• Chelsea have reached a verbal agreement on personal terms with Simons after agent Ali Barat and advisor Faustino Simons joined talks at Leipzig’s Donaueschingen camp.
• The transfer’s financial structure, including a sell-on clause with PSG, makes the timing advantageous for Chelsea by reducing Leipzig’s payout.
• RB Leipzig have publicly valued Simons at around £60 million and are awaiting Chelsea’s opening offer to begin club-to-club negotiations.
• Emerging interest from Bayern Munich and Arsenal has intensified competition, prompting Chelsea to accelerate their proposal.
• Simons’s 11 goals and eight assists last season underline his versatility and appeal as Chelsea’s eighth signing in Maresca’s forward-reinforcement drive.