‘Outstanding’: Manager raves about 19-year-old Chelsea loanee who matched Dan James for pace

Add as preferred source on Google

Hull City manager Liam Rosenior has raved about the ability of Chelsea loanee Xavier Simons, who seized his opportunity to impress over the weekend.

Simons, who’s just 19, joined Championship side Hull on a season-long loan at the start of September.

He’s a highly-rated midfielder to come through Chelsea’s academy at Cobham, making one first-team appearance for the Blues as well.

However, his current aim is to continue his development away from Stamford Bridge and in senior football.

He made just his second Hull appearance in their FA Cup tie against Fulham at the weekend, impressing from the start in a 2-0 defeat to the Premier League opposition.

Liam Rosenior raved about Xavier Simons

Rosenior singled out Chelsea’s bright loanee for huge praise post-Fulham.

In particular, he highlighted the defensive midfielder’s physicality to match Welsh speedster Dan James for pace at one stage.

“He was outstanding – for a young player to play central midfield as well which is tactically against them, their movements and their rotations, is very difficult,” Rosenior said, as quoted by Hull Live.

“I thought he was outstanding, I thought he understood exactly what we wanted from him, he showed some really good moments in possession as well.

“His physicality, there was one moment with Dan James where… Dan James is probably the fastest man in football and ‘Xavi’ manages to stay with him. He’s got a lot of really good aspects to his game and I’m really delighted with the way that he played.”

Let’s hope Simons can kick on during the second half of the season and shine in Hull colours.

There’s a number of talented Chelsea-owned youngsters currently out on loan, with “superb” 20-year-old Ian Maatsen at Burnley someone ripping it up in the Championship.

The second division has been a fantastic learning ground in recent years, with the likes of Reece James and Mason Mount previously learning their craft at that level.

Keep up to date with all the latest Chelsea news and opinion by following The Chelsea Chronicle’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.