Paris Saint-Germain have signed 16-year-old Xavi Simons on a three-year contract, the club announced on Twitter, after the Dutch wonderkid reportedly turned his back on Barcelona.
“The Dutch midfielder has signed a contract lasting until June 2022,” PSG tweeted on Tuesday.
Simons refused a contract worth 200,000 euros ($222,000) a year from Barcelona, a huge amount for a prospect from the club’s training centre La Masia, according to Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo.
He also walked away from a chance to be quickly integrated into Barcelona’s youth team, the newspaper reported.
The Dutch starlet, known for his long, curly hair, had earlier announced to his 1.7 million social media followers that he was quitting Barcelona, without saying where he was heading.
The young player, whose agent is the influential Mino Raiola -- the agent of players such as Paul Pogba and Matthijs De Ligt among others -- joins a club desperate for European honours after years of heartache.
Simons is expected to debut for the French champions in their youth team which plays in Youth Champions, a junior version of the Champions League.