RB Leipzig chief confirms Xavi Simons transfer wish as Chelsea green light received

Chelsea have been handed a Xavi Simons transfer update - while talks with RB Leipzig are expected to advance over the coming days. The Blues have been in discussions for his potential arrival since mid-July with the need to bring in an attacking midfielder heightened by an injury to Cole Palmer.

Following the 5-1 win away at West Ham,Enzo Maresca confirmed the problem was in his groin and it was not a new one picked up during the warm-up at London Stadium.

"The Palace game, he was not 100 per cent," Maresca revealed in his post-match press conference. "But he's trying to make a big effort for the club, for the team, for the fans. Tonight again he tried again - but it was not very good.

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"Cole in the last four or five days was not 100 per cent. Today he tried the warm-up, but he felt something. So we prefer not to take any risk to get worse. And we'll see in the next hours if it's something important or not."

If that does prove to be a serious issue, there will be an extra impetus on agreeing a deal for Simons swiftly, even though Chelsea put in an excellent display without Palmer.

While that was ongoing, Simons was in action for Leipzig, but he endured a very different evening as Bayern Munich beat them 6-0.That's likely to be his final appearance for the German club with Sky Sports Germany's Florian Plettenberg revealing talks with Chelsea are now expected to advance.

RB Leipzig director Marcel Schafer has since then issued a fresh update on his future, which certainly suggests a move to Stamford Bridge is going to happen.

"Xavi Simons is still with us. But the market is still open, you never know what might happen," he admitted to Sky Sports Germany. "Xavi has expressed his ambitions to us."

Tottenham and German heavyweights Bayern Munich are both said to have enquired for Simons, but his focus remains on joining Chelsea. Alejandro Garnacho appears to have a similar stance, with talks for him to join from Manchester United advancing this week.

Sanctioning some marquee exits is also a priority for the final stretch of the summer window with Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku expected to depart. Bayern and Leipzig have shown an interest in the latter while Jackson could yet remain in the Premier League - with links to Aston Villa and Newcastle United ramping up.

If those departures go through, and for big money, Chelsea could target a ninth new arrival with Maresca having made it clear he would like to sign a new centre-back following the long-term injury suffered by Levi Colwill.