Xavi Simons: Have Tottenham struck gold with their statement signing?

There are few 22-year-olds who can say they have faced the glare of football’s spotlight for more than a decade. Attention and expectation are nothing new for Xavi Simons, Tottenham’s statement signing.

Named after the former Barcelona midfielder and manager, he was a child prodigy at the club’s La Masia academy after joining at the age of seven. With his distinct blond curls adding to the intrigue, Simons had over a million Instagram followers by the age of 14.

“People used to have doubts and say: ‘We don’t know if Xavi can play football well, he just has a lot of Instagram followers’,” Simons admitted in an interview in 2023.

Simons was not Spurs’ first-choice target, as failed pursuits of Morgan Gibbs-White and Eberechi Eze showed. However, the Dutchman is younger than both those players and there is a strong argument that his ceiling is higher.

Spurs have rarely signed players of his status, particularly at this stage of their career. It feels similar to the arrival of Rafael van der Vaart from Real Madrid in 2010. In a post-Harry Kane and Heung-min Son era, Spurs are looking for someone to take on the talismanic baton. Their new No7 will not be fazed by doing so.

“Before I joined Barcelona I knew about him — everyone knew about him,” Moral tells Standard Sport. He was a coach for Barcelona’s U12s, with Simons the captain of the A side and swiftly making an impression.

“He was a guy at 12 with so much maturity,” Moral says. “He was captain, he spoke all the time with his team-mates telling them to push. The attitude to be a top player. Physically he was small but was still strong, he was never afraid.

“The first thing for me as a coach is yes this guy has the quality. If you didn’t know football and watched him, you’d say ‘wow, this player is good’. He’s so elegant. But he was also pushing and running like a bull.”

A couple of months after Moral arrived at the club, he travelled with the U12s to the prestigious Mediterranean International Cup. Barcelona were beaten in the final by Real Madrid, but that defeat is not the defining memory of the tournament for Moral.

He remembers: “We got off the bus and everyone was waiting outside: ‘Xavi, Xavi, Xavi!’ But this guy was 12 years old, I was very surprised. The people were shouting his name, everybody knew him and wanted photos.

“We tried to protect him because he was so young. It was too much, it put so much pressure on him. He was a superstar, already all in Nike, the brands were starting to appear because they saw a business with him.”

“Never you saw him and he thought ‘I’m a superstar’,” Moral insists. “No, always he was the first to run, the first to push in training. Never did I see him change. Even at U13, U14, when I saw him he came over to me and asked how I was, hugged me. He’s not the typical guy who plays one or two games in the first division and thinks he’s made it. I’ve coached players like this, but not Xavi. Very, very nice guy.”

Simons’ drive has never gone away and he is not afraid to roll the dice. He turned down a contract from Barcelona to join PSG at 16, much to the anger of fans of the club on social media.

“I played among the best players in the world in Paris, but I felt that playing ten or fifteen minutes one match and then not playing at all the next wasn’t enough for my development,” Simons explained.

That has been a theme across his career. Those who have worked with Simons describe him as doing everything possible to maximise his ability. He has worked with sports psychologists and insisted on extra sessions with coaches after training. When he has suffered injuries, Simons has been meticulous with his rehabilitation efforts.

He was joint top Eredivisie scorer in his one season at PSV, registering 22 goals and 12 assists across all competitions. Simons’ contract at the club included a buy-back clause for PSG which he was able to activate and he did so in 2023, only to immediately join Leipzig on loan.

That move was made permanent in January this year after Simons told PSG he did not want to return to the club. Leipzig were offered the chance to sign Simons for £43m (€50m), which they took. That was a decision done with a future profit partly in mind.

While Simons was viewed as a difference maker on the pitch, some at the club had grown frustrated with Simons’ attitude when it came to the media and his brand.

Sections of the Leipzig dressing room, particularly the more experienced players, were unhappy at a perceived self-interested approach, whether that be an unwillingness to conduct interviews or co-operate with club content in the way others felt they had to.

Simons was seen as more open to engaging with international outlets. It was felt this was part of a plan to prepare for the next stage of his career away from the Bundesliga and there were concerns at how Simons’ outlook was encouraging other players to act in a similar manner. A move this summer suited all parties.

There have never been any doubts over Simons’ ability or his commitment to his clubs, both in matches and on the training pitch. There is huge potential there and how to get Simons producing on a regular basis will have been firmly on Frank’s mind during the recent international break.

The Spurs boss said: “Of course I have key ideas, but something is to look from the outside, another thing is to feel them. You’re around them. You speak to them. You watch them live, training, games. Xavi, I see him mainly as a 10 or a left-sided player or left winger.”

Simons started on the left wing against West Ham and notched his first assist for the club, swinging a corner to the back post for Pape Matar Sarr to head in. There were some eye-catching moments but it was also the performance of a player who had only trained with his new team-mates a couple of times. Disguised passes found West Ham shirts, rather than a Spurs player knowing what to expect.

Again he was out wide for the win over Villarreal on Tuesday night. There were some better signs, Simons combining nicely on a couple of occasions with Djed Spence, but his brightest moments came when drifting inside and getting shots off from a central position.

Frank has shifted to more of a 4-3-3 in the last couple of matches, rather than a 4-2-3-1 with a clear No10. Sarr and, in particular, Lucas Bergvall have impressed, with the Swede picking up two consecutive player of the match awards.

He has thrived when playing as his side’s chief creator. Simons’ best performances at PSV came largely at left wing, but they also came when he was the leading man. After Cody Gakpo and Noni Madueke left mid-season, he stepped up with 12 goals and eight assists in the second half of the campaign.

Inevitably after only 145 minutes in a Spurs shirt, Simons has felt more on the periphery of things in attack. There is perhaps less freedom than he has been accustomed to, and balancing those off-the-ball duties in a structured system while allowing Simons to flourish is a challenge for Frank to solve.

The Spurs boss has prioritised the defence in his first months in charge and the progress has been stark. Next on Frank’s agenda will be providing the attacking spark and, should Simons help provide it, one former coach will be watching from afar with a smile.

Holland: 2022-PRESENT - Simons was called up for the 2022 World Cup by Louis van Gaal. Made his debut in the last-16 against USA, with his first start a Euro 2024 qualifier against France. Simons played in every match of that campaign. He scored against England in the semis with a superb strike.

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