Süleyman Öztürk foresees a heroic role for Xavi Simons at the 2024 European Championship, he says in VI Uncensored of Football International. The RB Leipzig attacker has not yet managed to impress in the Dutch shirt, but that can change quickly, Öztürk thinks.
“He is a talent that is in the top category,” begins Suley. “He belongs to the (Jude, ed.) Bellinghams of this world. You can name all the names. Xavi Simons is just an incredibly interesting talent.”
Things often don’t work out for Simons in the Dutch national team, as Öztürk also sees. Yet he thinks that the former PSV player can be one of the mainstays of the Dutch team at the European Championships in Germany next year. The journalist draws a comparison with the 2021 European Championship.
“What happened to Denzel Dumfries at the 2021 European Championships could happen to him. A few weeks together, the coordination will improve because you train and play together. It is possible that Xavi Simons will then become the big star at the European Championships, because he has those capabilities and he is that special player. And not Wout Weghorst,” said Öztürk.
He thus responds to the remarkable interview that the Dutch striker gave after the match won against Ireland (1-0). “I think that is also the reason that many people want to talk about Weghorst. They all think: What a big waffle for someone who is not Xavi Simons.”
Simons has played ten international matches for the Netherlands so far, in which he never found the net or provided an assist. He made his debut for the Dutch team at the World Cup in Qatar, when he came on as a substitute for Louis van Gaal against the United States (3-1).
At Leipzig, on the other hand, Simons is having an excellent season. He is rented by the Germans from Paris Saint-Germain for one football year. He has so far played sixteen games for Leipzig, with six goals and eight assists.