Chelsea may just have to wait another three days before finally sanctioning Xavi Simons' transfer from RB Leipzig. The Netherlands international is eager to make the move to Stamford Bridge with negotiations having taken place since mid-July.

Arsenal and Tottenham were linked once it emerged Simons could be departing Germany, but it was the Blues that actively made an approach. Since then, he has only been focused on joining Chelsea but that has not stopped him featuring for Leipzig.

He played the full 90 minutes of his side's final pre-season friendly defeat to Lens earlier this month and followed that up by seeing out another fixture to the final whistle in Leipzig's 4-2 victory over Sandhausen in the first round of the DFB Pokal.

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Simons grabbed an assist in that game and also scored the final goal with a very smart close-range finish after a quick pass and run in behind. Leipzig kick off their Bundesliga season on Friday night against reigning champions Bayern Munich and it looks as though Simons will feature.

"Unless something unexpected happens, the current plan for #Xavi Simons is for him to start for RB Leipzig against FC Bayern in the Bundesliga opener on Friday,"Sky Sports Germany's Florian Plettenberg wrote on X.

"After that, the move to Chelsea is set to be completed. The chances of the Chelsea transfer going through remain very high. Xavi only wants #CFC. Personal terms are 100% agreed. RB still waiting for an official offer."

Chelsea are also in action on Friday evening as they make the short trip to West Ham United. Following that clash, just over a week-and-a-half remains of the summer window with Chelsea, inclusive of Simons, keen to agree another three new signings.

Alejandro Garnacho of Manchester United is also being actively pursued with talks ongoing. Enzo Maresca has also made it very clear that he would like to bring in a new centre-back following the serious knee injury suffered by Levi Colwill.

"When we build, we build with Levi in the middle," he said. "Last year we played 64 games and we played all 64 games with either Levi or Tosin [Adarabioyo in the middle].

"Now Levi is out. The only other one that he can do that job well is Tosin. But we have Premier League, Champions League, with these kind of players. The rest, they can adapt. [Jorrel] Hato is a new one, he never played as the guy in the middle last season [with Ajax], so it's not about being a central defender.

"Yes, [he is a] central defender but can he do that? It's different. Also we have players that unfortunately, like Wes [Fofana] or Benoit [Badiashile], they have in this moment some [injury] problems.

"The one in the middle in my way is so, so, so important. And this is the reason why I said that the club knows exactly what I think about central defenders."

Tosin Adarabioyo missed the draw against Crystal Palace but his issue is unlikely to keep him out for a significant period. It also allowed for Josh Acheampong to make his case with the Chelsea academy star impressing alongside Trevoh Chalobah.