Tottenham’s Relegation Nightmare: Xavi Simons Shines Amidst the Chaos

Tottenham Hotspur is staring down an absolute disaster. For the first time in 49 years, the London club has plummeted into the relegation zone and is facing the very real threat of dropping into the Championship. When Xavi Simons made his €65 million move from RB Leipzig last summer, nobody expected him to be thrust into a desperate fight for Premier League survival.

A Rare Bright Spot

Despite the collective collapse taking place around him, the 22-year-old Dutchman has actually been one of the few positives for Spurs. You only have to look at his recent performances to see his impact on the pitch. Simons was instrumental in Tottenham’s impressive Sunday comeback against Manchester City, assisting Dominic Solanke’s opening goal to kickstart a 2-2 draw and bring some much-needed life back into the stadium.

Just a day prior, in a separate 2-2 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion, he put on an absolute clinic. While the result wasn’t enough to secure a crucial three points, Simons netted a stunning goal and set up Pedro Porro for the team’s second. Right now, Spurs are in panic mode. They desperately need to catch West Ham United, who sit just one point ahead in safety while also holding a game in hand.

Simons vs. Eze

Interestingly, Simons wasn’t even the club’s primary target. Spurs eventually signed the Dutchman after missing out on Eberechi Eze, who snubbed a move to Thomas Frank’s squad in order to join North London rivals Arsenal for £60 million over the summer. Naturally, fans and pundits are tracking the two big-money transfers closely, especially given how their respective seasons are panning out.

Former Spurs player Jamie O’Hara recently took to talkSPORT to argue that Simons has easily been the better investment. “Xavi Simons is looking good,” O’Hara stated. “Listen, we signed him because we didn’t get Eze, right? Simons is performing better than Eze. If you’re arguing about spending £60 million on a player, Eze has been poor this season for Arsenal.”

Looking closely at the stat sheet, the two stars are incredibly close. Across 31 appearances in all competitions, Simons has tallied two goals and five assists. One goal and four of those assists came in domestic play, while he also found the back of the net in the Champions League.

Eze, on the other hand, has logged five goals and four assists in his 31 outings for the Gunners, with four of those goals coming in Premier League action. While the England international technically has more total goal contributions and achieved them in 200 fewer minutes, he has struggled to lock down consistent playing time under Mikel Arteta lately. This was painfully obvious over the weekend when he was handed a mere nine-minute cameo off the bench in Arsenal’s 4-0 thrashing of Leeds.

A Looming Exit

If the unthinkable happens and Tottenham does go down, a stint in the second tier seems entirely out of the question for a talent like Simons. The young playmaker will inevitably have to look for a way out. Rumors are already swirling that he could head back to his boyhood club, Barcelona.

In hindsight, maybe a move to Bayern Munich would have been the safer bet. According to Uli Hoeneß, who recently spoke on a Bavarian government podcast, Bayern head coach Vincent Kompany was actually pushing hard to sign the dynamic attacker. Ultimately, the club’s top brass vetoed the move. Now, Tottenham is holding its breath. If they do drop into the Championship, the front office certainly wouldn’t object to the massive financial injection that selling Simons would bring.