Tottenham have announced that they have completed the signing of RB Leipzig attacking midfielder Xavi Simons.
According to The Athletic, Simons joins for a fee of €65m. The 22-year-old will also sign a contract at Leipzig until 2030 with an option of two further years.
On moving to Tottenham, Simons said:
“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.”
Chelsea had long seemed like the club that Simons would be heading to, but the West London side were unable to sell the necessary players before putting in a bid for the Dutch international. Bayern Munich had also shown an interest in Simons, but despite pressure from head coach Vincent Kompany, the supervisory board did not approve a deal.
Leipzig bought Simons permanently at the beginning of this year for a fee of €50m, and now makes a profit of €10m. It is probably not as much money as they would have hoped for, but last season, the 22-year-old played poorly, as did Leipzig as a club.
During his time at Leipzig, Simons has scored 22 goals and assisted 24 in 78 games.
This is Leipzig’s second biggest sale of the summer, after they sold Benjamin Seško earlier in the window to Manchester United.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
