Tottenham boss Thomas Frank is believed to be privately unimpressed with summer signing Xavi Simons.
Simons’ arrival for £52 million in the summer window brought serious excitement with it, especially after James Maddison was ruled out for the majority of 2025/2026 with an ACL injury he sustained in pre-season.
With Dejan Kulusevski also still on the recovery trail from a knee problem, which forced him to miss Tottenham’s Europa League triumph, Simons was viewed as the answer to Frank’s shortage of creative options in the final third.
However, it has been a slow start for the Dutchman.
Thus far, Simons’ only goal contribution has come from a dead-ball situation, with the 22-year-old setting up Pape Sarr to head home from a corner away to West Ham in September.
This was during Simons’ Premier League debut for his new side, but since that glorious moment at the London Stadium, the ex-PSG sensation has largely struggled to make an impact.
His north London numbers are in stark contrast to his final campaign at Leipzig. Simons bagged 17 goal contributions in just 25 top flight outings, all while averaging a solid two shots on goal per 90 minutes.
Appearances
25
Minutes played
2,157
Goals
10
Assists
7
Bookings
5
Shots at goal per 90 minutes
2
Passing accuracy
82.9%
Average match rating
7.32
via WhoScored
Frank has repeatedly stood up for Simons when asked about his dwindling form by the media, with the Spurs head coach even making a comparison to Liverpool’s Florian Wirtz.
“Very good comparison with Wirtz, also a very good player, just like Xavi, coming into a new country, new club, new city, just need to settle and it is part of it,” Frank said last week.
“We are all getting judged every game, but we also need to see the bigger perspective. I always look for glimpses, and Xavi, I asked him to be more arriving in the box, and when I looked back at the game, he did. Was there a big eye-catching moment? No, but there were glimpses, so it’s going a little bit in the right direction.”
There have even been suggestions that Simons isn’t actually a playmaker at all, and Frank apparently needs to realise this sooner rather than later.
“They expect him to have a bit of a Maddison-like role. But he’s not Maddison. Maddison is a playmaker. Xavi Simons isn’t a playmaker or any other type of playmaker,” journalist Süleyman Öztürk told Voetbal International this month.
“And I think the coach still has to figure that out. You have, of course, the Ghanaian player who came from home and really plays like a shot. Koudous, yes. I think we need to give Xavi Simons time to make that adjustment to the Premier League, where you really have much less time to think. And that takes some getting used to.”
Perhaps the forward’s best position is out wide.
Simons played seven of his last 2025 Bundesliga matches for Leipzig on the left — a position which Frank has also utilised him.
The former La Masia gem was used as a winger against West Ham, Wolves, Everton and Villarreal in the Champions League, but again, he struggled to contribute in the final third.
How Thomas Frank really feels about Xavi Simons at Tottenham
In any case, he needs to start delivering sooner rather than later, with Dutch analyst Johan Derksen criticising the attacker on Vandaag Inside this week.
Derksen believes that Simons is “failing” at Tottenham and Frank is “unhappy” with his summer signing, going on to state that he lacks the speed and strength to succeed in England.
“Simons is failing at Tottenham,” Derksen said.
“The manager is unhappy with him. He’s a nice indoor player, but you need speed and strength. He lacks that.”
There is still plenty of time for the Netherlands international to adapt, and you can make a serious case that all the comments aimed his way are pretty harsh considering he only arrived a couple of months ago.
There is a settling in period for some foreign players, but the same cannot be said for Dominic Solanke.
According to other reports, Frank has seen enough of the experienced Premier League striker, despite Solanke playing just 49 minutes in total since the Dane arrived.
Thomas Frank makes Dominic Solanke decision with January exit possibility revealed