Originally a product ofBarcelona'sLa Masia, Simons signed forParis Saint-Germain (PSG) in July 2019, where he would initially join the under-19s before making his professional debut in 2021. With PSG, he won aLigue 1 andCoupe de France title. In 2022, Simons returned to his native Netherlands withPSV, winning theKNVB Cup,Johan Cruyff Shield, andEredivisie top scorer award in his only season at the club. In 2023, he rejoined PSG before being immediately loaned out to RB Leipzig in Germany for two seasons, signing permanently for the club in 2025.
Initially playing for the Netherlands at youth level, Simons received his first call-up to thenational team for the2022 FIFA World Cup, and made his debut at the tournament.
Early life
Born inAmsterdam, Xavi is the son of Peggy Simons and Dutch former footballerRegillio Simons, who is ofSurinamese descent.[4][5] Xavi's older brother Faustino (born 1996), who also played football, shares the same birthday as him.[6]
At the age of three, he moved with his family to a village nearAlicante, Spain where he started playing football at Club Deportivo Thader, a local club.[7]
Club career
Early career
Simons joined theyouth setup ofBarcelona in 2010 from Club Deportivo Thader ofAlicante,[8] and quickly progressed to become one of theCatalan club's most highly-rated youth players, with English clubChelsea reportedly attempting to sign him at a young age.[9] Described as a "prodigy", he joined the group of players represented by agentMino Raiola in 2017.[10][11]
In July 2019, Simons moved to French clubParis Saint-Germain (PSG), having failed to agree a new contract with Barcelona.[12] His three-year contract with the Parisian club was reportedly worth up to €1 million annually.[13][14] On 10 February 2021, Simons made his professional debut for PSG, coming on as a substitute forJulian Draxler in a 1–0Coupe de France win overCaen.[15][16] He made hisLigue 1 debut as a substitute in a 4–1 win overStrasbourg two months later.[17] On 19 May 2021, he won his first professional trophy, the Coupe de France.[18]
Ahead of the2021–22 season, Simons was included in the first-team preparation and pre-season by managerMauricio Pochettino.[19] On 18 August, Simons was sent back to train with the under-19 squad coached byZoumana Camara.[20] He eventually made his first appearance of the season for PSG in a 3–0 cup win overFeignies Aulnoye on 19 December, his first ever professional start.[21] On 3 January 2022, Simons recorded his first senior assist in a 4–0 cup win overVannes, a pass forKylian Mbappé.[22] His first league appearance of the 2021–22 season came in a 1–1 draw againstLyon on 9 January, where he came on as a 69th-minute substitute.[23] On 31 January, Simons missed the final penalty in a 6–5penalty shoot-out defeat toNice in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France.[24] On 11 February, he made his first Ligue 1 start in a 1–0 win overRennes at theParc des Princes.[25] At the end of the season, Simons won the Ligue 1 title, his first professional league title.[26]
PSV
On 28 June 2022, Simons signed forEredivisie clubPSV Eindhoven on a five-year contract.[27] Although he was initially expected to extend his contract with PSG and join PSV onloan,[28] the situation changed when PSV no longer wanted a loan deal.[29] However, PSG negotiated a reported €6 million buy-back clause in Simons's contract, effective in 2023.[30][31]
Simons scored his first career goal on his PSV debut, a 5–3 win over rivalsAjax in theJohan Cruyff Shield on 30 July 2022.[32] On 7 August, in his first Eredivisie game, he provided an assist forJohan Bakayoko, who opened the scoring in a 4–1 victory against newly-promotedEmmen.[33] Simons made his European debut with PSV in theUEFA Champions League qualifiers, and scored his first European goal in a 5–1UEFA Europa League group stage victory away toZürich on 6 October.[34][35] In the2023 KNVB Cup final, he provided the assist forThorgan Hazard's goal as PSV came out victorious over Ajax on penalties.[36] In the final match of the2022–23 Eredivisie season on 28 May 2023, Simons scored abrace, including a stoppage-time winner, in a 2–1 victory overAZ, securing second place for PSV and a spot in the Champions League qualifiers for the following season.[37][38] With nineteen goals, he shared the Eredivisie top scorer award withAnastasios Douvikas ofUtrecht.[39] Simons finished the club season with twenty-two goals and twelve assists in forty-eight games across all competitions, and won twoPlayer of the Month awards in August 2022 and March 2023.[40][41]
On 16 July 2023, it was announced by PSV that Simons had departed the club's training camp in order to finalize a transfer back to Paris Saint-Germain.[42]
Return to Paris Saint-Germain
On 19 July 2023, Simons returned to Paris Saint-Germain, signing a four-year contract after the club triggered a reported €6 million buy-back clause in his PSV contract, where Simons had the final say on his return.[43][44]
Immediately after being signed back by Paris Saint-Germain, Simons was loaned out toBundesliga clubRB Leipzig for the2023–24 season.[45][46] He was assigned the number 20 jersey.[44] On 12 August 2023, he made his debut for the club in a 3–0 win overBayern Munich in the2023 DFL-Supercup.[47] On 25 August, he scored his first Bundesliga goal in a 5–1 win overVfB Stuttgart, a match in which he also recorded two assists.[48] On 25 October, Simons scored his first goal in the Champions League in a 3–1 victory overRed Star Belgrade.[49] In addition, he was named player of the match, as he also provided an assist; aged 20 years and 187 days, he became the youngest Dutch player to both score and assist in the competition sinceArjen Robben in 2003.[50] In the second fixture against Red Star Belgrade on 7 November, Simons scored the opening goal in a 2–1 win, securing qualification to the round of 16.[51] By the end of the season, Simons had scored eight goals and registered eleven assists in thirty-two Bundesliga appearances, finishing joint-second in assists and helping RB Leipzig to a fourth-place finish.[52]
On 5 August 2024, Simons was again loaned out to RB Leipzig for the rest of the season.[53] On 12 January 2025, on the occasion of his first start since October 2024 due to an injury, Simons scored a brace in a 4–2 victory overWerder Bremen, his first brace in the Bundesliga on his 40th appearance in the competition.[54][55]
RB Leipzig
On 30 January 2025, RB Leipzig signed Simons on a permanent deal from Paris Saint-Germain for €50 million plus €31 million in potential bonuses.[56][57] RB Leipzig broke their transfer record to sign him on a contract until 2027.[58]
On 14 May 2025, Simons informed Leipzig of his decision to leave the club at the end of the2024–25 season, citing the team's failure to qualify for the following season's Champions League as a key factor.[59]
Tottenham Hotspur
On 29 August 2025,Premier League clubTottenham Hotspur announced the signing of Simons on a five year minimum contract, for a fee believed to be around £51.8 million.[60] The transfer was noteworthy due to Simons’ decision to sign for Tottenham in spite of the well-documented interest of their Londonrivals Chelsea, who had courted him throughout the summer 2025 transfer window.[61]
Simons made his debut for Tottenham on 13 September 2025, starting and assisting the first goal in a 3–0 away victory againstWest Ham.[62]
On 21 October 2022, Simons was included in the pre-selection of theNetherlands national team for the first time in his career.[63] On 11 November, he was officially called up for the2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar by head coachLouis van Gaal.[64] The youngest player in the Dutch squad, Simons was described as a "somewhat surprise inclusion".[65][66] On 3 December, he made his Netherlands and World Cup debut in a 3–1 win over theUnited States in the round of 16,[67] becoming the youngest player to feature in the knockout stages of the World Cup for the Netherlands.[68] In the quarter-finals, he was an unused substitute as the Dutch were eliminated byArgentina in apenalty shootout.[69]
On 24 March 2023, Simons made his first start for the Netherlands in their openingUEFA Euro 2024 qualifier againstFrance.[70] He went on to feature in every match of the qualifying campaign for theOranje, starting in seven of the eightGroup B fixtures.[71] In June 2023, Simons was a member of the Dutch squad for the2023 UEFA Nations League Finals, starting against bothCroatia in the semi-final andItaly in the third place play-off.[72][73] On 29 May 2024, Simons was named in the Netherlands' squad forUEFA Euro 2024.[74] He scored his first senior international goal in the team's final warm-up friendly – a 4–0 win overIceland on 10 June.[75] On 10 July, he scored a goal in the 7th minute againstEngland in thesemi-finals. However, the Netherlands were eventually defeated 2–1.[76]
Personal life
At the age of 13, Simons had his first advertising contract withNike. He switched toAdidas in 2021 before joiningPuma in 2023.[77][78] In August 2018, he featured in a Nike commercial titled "Awaken the Phantom" alongside playersPhilippe Coutinho,Kevin De Bruyne,Neymar,Ronaldinho,Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, andAndrea Pirlo.[79] During his youth career, Simons amassed a large social media following onInstagram; he had over two million followers on the platform in 2019, at the age of 16.[80] In March 2020, Simons was named onGoal's "NxGn 2020" list of the fifty best wonderkids in world football.[81] He was also included inThe Guardian's "Next Generation 2020" in October.[82]
Following the death ofMino Raiola in April 2022,Rafaela Pimenta became Simons's agent.[83] In May 2023, he changed his representation to Darren Dein.[84]
^"Premier match amical pour le PSG" [First friendly match for PSG].ParisTeam.fr (in French). 14 July 2021.Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved14 July 2021.
^"Leipzig siegt dank Xavi-Traumtor" [Leipzig wins thanks to Xavi's dream goal] (in German). Sport1. 25 October 2023.Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved28 October 2023.
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