Tottenham Hotspur got the better of Bayern Munich in the race for Xavi Simons last summer
Tottenham Hotspur were looking to bring in an attacking midfielder in the last summer transfer window. The North Londoners were scrambling through the target list the whole window. The North Londoners at one point were quite desperate to bring in someone who has the capacity to add that creativity and attacking spark in the final third.
And this is why the Lilywhites were interested in bringing Morgan Gibbs‑White to N17. But after a lot of controversy surrounding his transfer, he ended up staying put at Nottingham Forest. This is where Daniel Levy & his team pivoted to Eberechi Eze. While Eze’s move to Tottenham was in its final stages, he decided to pursue his dream transfer to Arsenal in the eleventh hour.
This is where Tottenham went in for Simons.
Bayern wanted to sign Simons
Simons signed for Tottenham in a transfer worth €60 million from RB Leipzig. But while the Dutchman dons the Lilywhites badge right now, he may well have still been playing his football in Germany.
According to a recent report by German outlet “Bayern Insider” podcast as relayed by wa.de, Bayern Munich had tracked Simons as their “dream player”. They were looking at him to replace Kingsley Coman around the summer window. Talks had reportedly progressed between the Bundesliga giants and his representatives to a contract discussion stage.
Yet, in the end, Bayern’s board (notably honorary president Uli Hoeness) vetoed signing him on a permanent transfer. He insisted that the current finances of the club only meant Bayern could sign him on a loan. And this allowed Tottenham to secure his signature.
TTLB Opinion
While Tottenham ended up signing Xavi Simons, in those circumstances the people behind the scenes acted quite well to secure his services. Especially given that they had missed out on their Plan A and Plan B. And as he moved to Hotspur Way, he came to a new country and a new league.
In Germany the Barcelona academy graduate was a focal point. But at Tottenham, we can see that he is still finding his rhythm. His touches and key passes have dropped compared to while he was in the Bundesliga (which is to be expected given that he arrived to adjust to the pace and physicality of the Premier League).
Do you think Tottenham worked out their position quite well into signing Xavi Simons? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
