Chelsea had tracked Simons all summer, but Spurs this week swooped in to snap up the 22-year-old
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Tottenham have pulled off the major signing of Xavi Simons from RB Leipzig in a welcome boost for new boss Thomas Frank.
Spurs have tracked a high-quality attacking addition all summer and after recent failed pursuits of Morgan Gibbs-White and Eberechi Eze, the capture of 22-year-old Simons represents a significant coup for the north London club.
Versatile attacker Simons has joined Tottenham in a deal worth an initial £51.8m with further add-ons included.
Simons told the club’s official website: “I’m really happy and can’t wait to get going. I’ve been dreaming of this for a long time.
“It’s a great club and when I met the Head Coach I knew straight away that this was the right place for me.
“I will bring flair to the team but also hard work and discipline. I want to do everything I can to win, for the team and also for the fans.”
Leipzig have a sell-on clause for the midfielder, who had been expected to join Chelsea this summer but the Blues’ failure to offload out-of-favour players enabled Spurs to hijack the transfer.
Simons has put pen-to-paper on a long-term contract and provides multiple options for Frank, with the Netherlands international able to excel on the left wing or in the number 10 position and equally adept on the right.
Frank has been on the hunt for a new attacking midfielder since he was appointed in June, with an unsuccessful attempt to sign Nottingham Forest captain Gibbs-White followed by Arsenal being able to snare Eze from Crystal Palace last week.
Tottenham were rocked in between by a serious knee injury for James Maddison, which will sideline the England international for the majority of this season.
Tottenham have been searching for a replacement for the injured James Maddison (Bradley Collyer/PA)
Tottenham have been searching for a replacement for the injured James Maddison (Bradley Collyer/PA)
Frank has repeatedly expressed confidence that Spurs would boost their squad and after talks with Manchester City over Savinho cooled this week, the club’s focus shifted to Simons.
A product of Barcelona’s La Masia academy, Simons moved to Paris St Germain in 2019 as a teenager before he made headlines during a productive loan spell at PSV in the 2022-23 campaign – scoring 22 times.
Simons would spend the next two seasons at Leipzig and added 24 assists along with 22 goals in 78 appearances before his move was made permanent earlier this year.
However, with Leipzig willing to let Simons leave for a sizeable fee after the Bundesliga club missed out on Champions League qualification, Tottenham this week entered the race again for his signature after previous interest.
Simons was given permission to travel to London on Thursday to finalise his future with Chelsea still looming in the background, but Spurs agreed a package in the region of £51.8m with Leipzig to bring the Amsterdam-born talent to the capital.
After Simons completed a medical on Friday morning, his transfer was confirmed later in the afternoon after boss Frank had been tight-lipped on his new arrival during a 2.30pm press conference ahead of Bournemouth’s visit on Saturday.
Simons is set to be introduced before the fixture with Bournemouth and will wear the number seven shirt vacated by former Tottenham captain Son Heung-min this summer.