In recent years, Manchester City have appeared to be on a mission to vacuum up as much of world football's young talent as possible.
Typically, the club will sign a promising youngster from a foreign league and immediately send them on loan to a City Football Group affiliate club until they see the player fit to sell for a profit.
However, every once in a while, a young star catches the eye of the club, and more importantly Pep Guardiola.
Paris Saint-Germain youngster Xavi Simons, who has found himself in the middle of a potential bidding war between some of Europe's top clubs, appears to be one of those emerging talents.
The 18-year-old midfielder has only made two appearances for the PSG senior team, however, he comes with sky-high expectations.
With his current contract at the French giants set to expire at the end of the season, Simons is rumored to be keen on a return to FC Barcelona, where he practiced his trade in the youth academy.
However, City boss Pep Guardiola is said to be 'in love with the way he plays’, according to information from Sport Witness, and the club are ‘willing to make him an offer’.
As a result, the Premier League club would wait for Simons’ contract to expire to ‘try to convince him’ to join them.
According to Spanish outlet Fichajes.net, the Etihad hierarchy views the midfielder as a ‘market opportunity’ and therefore, ‘do not want to miss’ out on a possible deal, if the Dutch teenager does decide to leave PSG.
Interestingly, Simons is represented by football super-agent Mino Raiola, whose relationship with Manchester City is perceived to be a sour one due to transfer dealings that have left the club unhappy in recent years.
Raiola is said to have requested that PSG commit to giving the youngster more playing time in the senior team before making a decision on his future in the summer.
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