Xavi Simons was handed his full debut for Paris Saint-Germain in the Coupe de France on Sunday, and the 18-year-old hopes there are many more minutes to be won with the capital club.
Simons - the son of former Dutch striker Regillio Simons - joined PSG's youth academy from Barcelona's in 2019, but has been mostly restricted to the club's under-19 team, with whom he has contributed three goals and six assists in just six UEFA Youth League games.
The midfielder made his Ligue 1 Uber Eats debut in April, replacing Ander Herrera for the final few minutes of PSG's 4-1 win at RC Strasbourg Alsace, but it wasn't until Sunday that he was trusted to start alongside the likes of Kylian Mbappé and Sergio Ramos.
"Personally, I felt good," Simons told PSG TV. "I'm very happy because it's my first start and I played the whole game. It's really nice to play with these top players and I'll continue to work hard."
Mbappé scored twice in the game, either side of a Mauro Icardi penalty, and Simons struck a mature tone beyond his years when reflecting on the victory.
"It's good, we won, and that's the most important thing," he said. "We've qualified for the next round and did so with the right mentality: the will to win but whilst respecting the opponent.
"Everything went well. We had to respect that they could be dangerous on the counter-attack, and we played well for the whole match."