Xavi Simons to Tottenham: Have Spurs Finally Found the 10 They Need?

Tottenham have finally ended their hunt for a new creative midfielder with the signing of Xavi Simons from RB Leipzig, but what will the Netherlands international bring to north London?

Finally, finally, Spurs have signed a number 10.

Seven weeks after a deal to sign Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest collapsed, four weeks after James Maddison ruptured his ACL, and 10 days since Eberechi Eze ditched them for Arsenal, Tottenham have filled a hole that they, and everyone else, knew needed filling.

Xavi Simons has signed from RB Leipzig and so, with just a few days of the transfer window remaining, some much-needed creativity has been added to the Spurs squad. With Maddison expected to miss most of the season and Dejan Kulusevski’s injury, described as “a knock” by former manager Ange Postecoglou in May dragging on into the foreseeable future (“It’s a longer one. I don’t want to put a time frame on it,” new boss Thomas Frank said last week), they had to bring someone in who could get on the ball in central areas and make things happen.

Spurs have made a very positive start to life under Frank, taking PSG to penalties in the UEFA Super Cup and winning two from two without conceding a goal in the Premier League, but the club haven’t let that distract them from the need for reinforcement. Although there have been lots of positives to take, just 21% of their chances created have come from the middle third in the Premier League so far, which is among the lowest proportions of all 20 teams. There already appears to be too much reliance on Mohammed Kudus down the right.

Simons, 22, could help change that. Having come through the ranks at Barcelona, he is very comfortable on the ball, and has shown over his senior career, particularly at PSV Eindhoven and Leipzig, how much he can affect games in the final third.

He swiftly became the main man for Leipzig, where he tended to play as a left-sided number 10, largely taking up central positions but also drifting out to the left flank. He was integral to everything they did; in Bundesliga games last season, Simons played a part in more shot-ending attacking sequences than any other Leipzig player, with his total of 126 split almost perfectly between taking the shot (43), creating the chance (40) and being involved in the build-up (43), showing the breadth of his ability.

When it comes to how he affects games, he is more of a dribbling number 10 than a passer, though that’s not to say he can’t find a killer pass. He was one of only 11 players to attempt 100+ dribbles in the Bundesliga last season (101), although his total of 33 completed dribbles suggests it wasn’t always the best decision to try and beat his opponent.

He still had a big impact moving with the ball, though. Only six players made more long progressive carries – defined as moving with the ball at least 10 metres closer to the opposition’s goal – in the Bundesliga last season than him (123), and four of them were defenders, who naturally have more space to move into than attacking midfielders like him.

Simons also followed up a carry – moving at least five metres with the ball – by creating a chance on 15 occasions, a total that only six Bundesliga players could top, while he had a shot following a carry 20 times.

And there was end product to these, too, with only four players in the whole league recording more carries ending in a goal or assist than him (six). England fans will recall his carry and long-range strike to open the scoring for the Netherlands in the Euro 2024 semi-final just over a year ago.

It’s worth noting here that Simons, who ended with 10 goals and seven assists for the 2024-25 season, was playing in a Leipzig side who endured their worst-ever Bundesliga campaign, finishing seventh. In that sense, his output is even more impressive. He is the type of player who can produce moments of magic on his own.

It’s important to add some context to his numbers, too. He was playing in a team that generally attacked on the transition, and that won’t always be the case at Spurs. Leipzig ranked second in the Bundesliga last season for shots from fast breaks (44) and for the proportion of their shots that came from fast breaks (10.7%). It is interesting though that in Gibbs-White, Eze and now Simons, Spurs have pursued creative midfielders from teams who don’t consistently dominate the ball, so perhaps someone who can help them on the transition might just be precisely what Frank wants.

As we saw in the win over Manchester City last week, transitions and verticality will remain key aspects of Tottenham’s play – as they were under Postecoglou last term – but even so, Spurs needed a number 10 to help them unlock deep defences, much like Maddison. Simons hasn’t had masses of opportunities to show what he can do in a possession-dominant team against a low block, and he might prove to be exactly what Spurs need on that front, but there isn’t a great deal of evidence from his time at Leipzig to prove that he is. Six of his seven Bundesliga assists last season came following a high turnover or a counter-attack, and the other was direct from a corner.

Many of the best opportunities he created last season came against a disrupted defence, but his numbers prove he can execute a killer pass when an opportunity presents itself. Only six players played more passes that broke the opposition’s defensive line in the Bundesliga last season than Simons (37), and five of them played for Bayern Munich or Bayer Leverkusen, the eventual top two and the two teams who had the most possession.

Meanwhile, only two players – Bayern pair Michael Olise (54) and Joshua Kimmich (36) – made more line-breaking passes into the opposition’s penalty area than him (34), and only six players made more line-breaking passes that created a chance for a teammate.

Having played for Leipzig, part of the Red Bull network of teams, it is hardly surprising that Simons is an effective presser. Only eight players won possession in the opposition’s final third more often than him in the Bundesliga last season (21). That should make him a useful fit for Frank, who likes his team to press high when they have the chance.

So, he sounds pretty good, he is clearly very highly rated, and he has played for a few big clubs around Europe. What are the potential downsides, then?

We’ve already touched on the fact that Simons previously played for a transition-focused side in Leipzig, but on top of adapting to both a new style of play, he will also have to get used to a new league. Given Spurs failed in pursuing Premier League-ready creators in Gibbs-White and Eze, that was clearly a consideration of theirs going into the summer.

England will be the fifth country that Simons’ career has taken him to already, though, so Spurs will hope that new surroundings won’t faze him too much. They’ll also hope, however, that Simons plans on sticking around for a bit longer than he has at his recent clubs, rather than just seeing them as another stepping stone.

Spurs could do with him adapting quickly. Maddison, Kulusevski and Son Heung-min, who left the club in the summer, provided a total of 65 goals or assists in all competitions last season, and they need to replace that output. Scoring hasn’t been a problem for them so far this season, but they will need goals to come from all over the pitch to make up for the loss of those players.

Last season, Simons scored his 10 non-penalty Bundesliga goals from just 5.1 non-penalty expected goals. In one sense, this is mightily impressive, as only two players – Patrick Schick and Omar Marmoush – outperformed their non-penalty xG to a greater extent than him (+4.9).

He can score spectacular goals – another reminder of that goal he scored against England – and his finishing last season was exemplary, but 5.1 xG over an entire season doesn’t suggest a player who consistently gets into positions to score. And a new league might not be the ideal environment to maintain that level of overperformance in front of goal.

Still, Simons is in his early 20s, already has plenty of experience at the top level, and brings bags of talent to north London. He also has the potential to get much, much better.

It hasn’t been the smoothest journey to a destination that Tottenham have been trying to get to all summer, but the outcome could prove to be worth all the trouble. In Xavi Simons, they finally have the number 10 they have been looking for.

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