Tottenham have held internal talks over a late move for RB Leipzig starlet Xavi Simons following Arsenal’s hijack of their pursuit of Eberechi Eze, GIVEMESPORT senior reporter Fabrizio Romano has revealed.
The North London side are on the lookout for late attacking reinforcements and have reportedly earmarked Simons as a potential alternative to Eze.
The Crystal Palace attacking midfielder snubbed long-standing interest from Spurs in favour of a move to Arsenal and is now close to completing a £68m switch.
Tottenham are also facing a tough battle with fellow Premier League rivals Chelsea in the race to sign Simons, as the Dutch international has his heart set on a move to Stamford Bridge.
Romano suggests Spurs have made contact to explore a potential deal for Simons in the last couple of days, but are not anticipating anything easy in the chase to sign the 22-year-old.
Tottenham Would Love to Sign Xavi Simons
Xavi Simons in action for RB Leipzig
Romano, speaking on his YouTube channel, revealed that Tottenham would love to sign Simons before the transfer deadline following Eze’s decision to join Arsenal:
“Another player they would love to add, and they made some contact a few days ago already was Xavi Simons. But Xavi Simons has his heart set on a move to Chelsea.
“So now for Tottenham is going to be not easy, for sure, after the crazy Morgan Gibbs-White story and after this Eze story to try understand what they can do next. Rogers, very difficult. Xavi Simons wants to go to Chelsea.”
Simons emerged as one of Europe’s most exciting young attacking midfielders during his two seasons at Leipzig, scoring 22 goals and providing 24 assists in 77 appearances, and has been described as 'one of the best 10s in the world'.
The 'superstar' Dutch international was initially on loan at the German club for the first 18 months before Leipzig activated their €50m option to make his move permanent from Paris Saint-Germain in January.
Tottenham are on the lookout for late attacking reinforcements following Son Heung-min’s move to LAFC and James Maddison’s long-term injury.
The 28-year-old midfielder sustained an ACL setback in a pre-season friendly earlier this month and could miss the entire 2025/26 campaign.
Spurs were also without first-team stars Destiny Udogie, Yves Bissouma, Radu Dragusin and Dejan Kulusevski for the 3-0 win over Burnley last weekend, with Kulusevski still recovering from a knee injury he sustained in May.
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