There has been a lot of criticism of Tottenham Hotspur's most expensive summer 2025 transfer, and while a significant amount of it has been both contrusctive and, quite frankly (no pun intended), deserved, Simons served a gentle reminder to the footballing world on Tuesday night against Atletico Madrid that he's a bona fide star in this game.
Simons has been a succes wherever he has gone. He was tremendous for PSV in both domestic and international compeition, and then he actually raised the bar further for RB Leipzig. So the fact that Simons has not been dominating as a No. 10 for Spurs is indeed a disappointment and a bit of step back, but in a week where Eberechi Eze scored a scorching volley for Arsenal, Simons, too, showed his world class quality.
The Tottenham youngster was unplayable, and even a top defense like Atletico Madrid could not cope with him. Simons was the most influential player in the 3-2 win for Spurs, scoring two goals while filling up the rest of the stat sheet. The Flying Dutchman led Spurs with five key passes, tying Maths Tel for the team lead with four dribbles completed, too. He won the penalty that he converted, but his first goal from beyond the blue was the real gem of the two.
Xavi Simons did it all for Tottenham
Even better, Xavi Simons proved that nothing should take him off the pitch by being the team's best defensive influence, too, leading the way with two tackles while adding two interceptions. And to top it all off, he completed a touch under 90 percent of his passes, pulling the string with accuracy, progresiveness, incisiveness, and real creative output.
Look, there can still be skepticism as to how well Simons translates to the Premier League, but this world class display in literally every single aspect of midfield play was a crystal clear message to world football that no matter how you spin it, Simons is a baller. He is a great player. And people can sit there and pick apart translating to the league, but if you can play as well as he did on a week night against Atletico de Madrid, then you can play up to anyone in English football.
Tottenham fans have to be coming away from the Champions League with at least this hugely positive feeling on Simons, who was the most important acquisition the club made in either the preceding summer or winter transfer periods.