"PSG youngster Xavi Simons won't be Iniesta or Xavi but he has quality"

Xavi Simons, the former Barcelona player now at Paris Saint-Germain, made his debut for the French club this week at the age of 17 in a cup game against Caen, which PSG won 1-0 but at the cost of an injury to Neymar.

PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino, speaking to Onda Cero, has spoken about the former Barça midfielder, who he handed 13 minutes at the end of the game.

Knowing that the pressure on the teenager's shoulders will grow following his debut, Pochettino did his best to play down expectations.

"He won't be Iniesta or Xavi but he has the quality and the ability to have a career in the top flights," he said. "He is still very young, but he has potential."

The Argentina coach spoke about his hopes of giving more youngsters chances in Paris: "Our idea is to generate an identity and value in our academy. The fact he debuted this week is the result of a number of circumstances because a lot of players had to rest.

"He is training well, he has a great character and he wasn't nervous. He reads the play well."

Simons, who's been training with the first team in recent weeks after leaving Barça in 2019, had already played for PSG in a friendly in preseason and has been involved with the first team squad previously.

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