Tottenham beat Chelsea to Xavi Simons transfer for reported €60M

Xavi Simons signed a contract with Tottenham Hotspur rather than Chelsea after reportedly traveling to London on Thursday to determine which club to join.

Spurs encouraged the Dutch attacker to ink terms on a five-year deal with an option for two additional years, according to transfer insider Fabrizio Romano. His move to Tottenham from RB Leipzig cost a fixed €60-million fee.

Simons approved personal terms to join Chelsea back in July, but the Club World Cup winners ultimately failed to reach an agreement with Leipzig for his transfer, Romano reports.

The arrival of Simons, who will wear Son Heung-min's old No. 7 shirt at Tottenham, follows around a week after Arsenal beat Spurs to Eberechi Eze's signature. Tottenham also reportedly missed out on signing Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White earlier this summer. Simons is similarly versatile to Eze, but his statistics bear more similarities to Gibbs-White because his attacking penetration often comes courtesy of his passing instead of his dribbling.

"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," Simons said in Friday's announcement.

The 22-year-old recorded 18 goals and 17 assists in 58 Bundesliga appearances for Leipzig. He previously won Ligue 1 while playing a bit part for Paris Saint-Germain in the 2021-22 campaign, and he won the KNVB Cup with PSV Eindhoven in 2023. Leipzig paid an initial €50-million fee to sign Simons from PSG on a permanent basis in January.

Simons boasts 28 caps for the Netherlands. He represented his country at the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2024.