*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 03:55, 1 May 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15:31, 27 March 2024 (UTC)
Originally a product of
Barcelona's
La Masia, he signed for Paris Saint-German (PSG) in July 2019, where he would initially join the under-19s before making his professional debut in February 2021. With PSG, Simons won a
Ligue 1 title and a
Coupe de France. In 2022, he returned to the Netherlands with PSV, winning the
KNVB Cup,
Johan Cruyff Shield, and
Eredivisie top scorer award in his only season at the club. In 2023, he returned to PSG before being immediately loaned out to RB Leipzig in Germany.
Initially playing for the Netherlands at youth level, Simons received his first call-up to the
national team for the
2022 FIFA World Cup. He made his debut in a 3–1 win over the
United States in the round of 16 as the Netherlands crashed out in the quarter-finals.
Early life
Born in
Amsterdam, Xavi is the son of Peggy Simons and Dutch former footballer
Regillio Simons, who is of
Surinamese descent.[3][4] Xavi's older brother Faustino (born 1996), who also played football, shares the same birthday as him.[5]
Club career
Early career
Simons joined the
youth setup of
Barcelona in 2010 from Club Deportivo Thader of
Alicante,[6] and quickly progressed to become one of the Catalan club's most highly-rated youth players, with English club
Chelsea reportedly attempting to sign him at a young age.[7] Described as a "prodigy", he joined the group of players represented by agent
Mino Raiola in 2017.[8][9]
Paris Saint-Germain
In July 2019, Simons moved to French club
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), having failed to agree a new contract with Barcelona.[10] His three-year contract with the Parisian club was reportedly worth up to €1 million annually.[11][12] On 10 February 2021, Simons made his professional debut for PSG, coming on as a substitute for
Julian Draxler in a 1–0
Coupe de France win over
Caen.[13][14] He made his
Ligue 1 debut as a substitute in a 4–1 win over
Strasbourg two months later.[15] On 19 May 2021, he won his first professional trophy, the Coupe de France.[16]
Ahead of the
2021–22 season, Simons was included in the first-team preparation and pre-season by manager
Mauricio Pochettino.[17] On 14 July 2021, he came off the bench and scored a goal in a 4–0
friendly win over
Le Mans at the
Camp des Loges.[18] He scored another goal in a 2–2 friendly draw against
Chambly three days later at the same ground.[19] On 18 August, Simons was sent back to train with the under-19 squad coached by
Zoumana Camara.[20] He eventually made his first appearance of the season for PSG in a 3–0 cup win over
Feignies Aulnoye on 19 December, his first ever professional start.[21] On 3 January 2022, Simons recorded his first senior assist in a 4–0 cup win over
Vannes, a pass for
Kylian Mbappé.[22] His first league appearance of the 2021–22 season came in a 1–1 draw against
Lyon on 9 January, where he came on as a 69th minute substitute.[23] On 31 January, Simons missed the final penalty in a 6–5
penalty shoot-out defeat to
Nice in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France.[24] On 11 February, he made his first league start in a 1–0 win over
Rennes at the
Parc des Princes.[25] At the end of the season, Simons won the Ligue 1 title, his first professional league title.[26]
PSV
On 28 June 2022, Simons signed for
Eredivisie club
PSV on a five-year contract.[27] Although he was initially expected to extend his contract with PSG and join PSV on
loan,[28] the situation changed when PSV no longer wanted a loan deal.[29] However, PSG negotiated a reported €6 million buy-back clause in Simons's contract, effective in 2023.[30][31]
Simons scored his first career goal on his PSV debut, a 5–3 win over rivals
Ajax in the
Johan Cruyff Shield on 30 July 2022.[32] On 7 August, in his first Eredivisie game, he provided an assist for
Johan Bakayoko, who opened the scoring in a 4–1 victory against newly-promoted
Emmen.[33] Simons made his European debut with PSV in the
UEFA Champions League qualifiers, and scored his first European goal in a 5–1
UEFA Europa League group stage victory away to
Zürich on 6 October.[34][35] In the
2023 KNVB Cup final, he provided the assist for
Thorgan Hazard's goal as PSV came out victorious over Ajax on penalties.[36] In the final match of the
2022–23 Eredivisie season on 28 May 2023, Simons scored a
brace, including a stoppage-time winner, in a 2–1 victory over
AZ, securing second place for PSV and a spot in the Champions League qualifiers for the following season.[37][38] With nineteen goals, he shared the Eredivisie top scorer award with
Anastasios Douvikas of
Utrecht.[39] Simons finished the club season with twenty-two goals and twelve assists in forty-eight games across all competitions, and won two
Player of the Month awards in August 2022 and March 2023.[40][41]
On 16 July 2023, it was announced by PSV that Simons had departed the club's training camp in order to finalize a transfer back to Paris Saint-Germain.[42]
Return to Paris Saint-Germain
On 19 July 2023, Simons returned to Paris Saint-Germain, signing a four-year contract after the club triggered a reported €6 million buy-back clause in his PSV contract, where Simons had the final say on his return.[43][44]
Loan to RB Leipzig
Immediately after being signed back by Paris Saint-Germain, Simons was loaned out to
Bundesliga club
RB Leipzig for the
2023–24 season.[45][46] He was assigned the number 20 jersey.[44] On 12 August 2023, he made his debut for the club in a 3–0 win over
Bayern Munich in the
2023 DFL-Supercup.[47] On 25 August, he scored his first Bundesliga goal in a 5–1 win over
VfB Stuttgart, a match in which he also recorded two assists.[48] On 25 October, Simons scored his first goal in the Champions League in a 3–1 victory over
Red Star Belgrade.[49] In addition, he was named player of the match, as he also provided an assist to be the youngest Dutch player, aged 20 years and 187 days, to achieve both scoring and assisting in the competition since
Arjen Robben in 2003.[50] In the second fixture against Red Star Belgrade on 7 November, Simons scored the opening goal in a 2–1 win, securing qualification to the round of 16.[51]
On 21 October 2022, Simons was included in the pre-selection of the
Netherlands national team for the first time in his career.[52] On 11 November, he was officially called up for the
2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar by head coach
Louis van Gaal.[53] The youngest player in the Dutch squad, Simons was described as a "somewhat surprise inclusion".[54][55] On 3 December, he made his Netherlands and World Cup debut in a 3–1 win over the
United States in the round of 16.[56] He became the youngest player to feature in the knockout stages of the World Cup for the Netherlands.[57] In the quarter-finals, the Dutch suffered elimination at the hands of
Argentina.[58]
Personal life
At the age of 13, Simons had his first advertising contract with
Nike. He switched to
Adidas in 2021 before joining
Puma in 2023.[59][60] In August 2018, he featured in a Nike commercial titled "Awaken the Phantom" alongside players
Philippe Coutinho,
Kevin De Bruyne,
Neymar,
Ronaldinho,
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and
Andrea Pirlo.[61] During his youth career, Simons amassed a large social media following on
Instagram; he had over two million followers on the platform in 2019, at the age of 16.[62] In March 2020, Simons was named on
Goal's "NxGn 2020" list of the fifty best wonderkids in world football.[63] He was also included in
The Guardian's "Next Generation 2020" in October.[64]
In 2022, following the death of Mino Raiola,
Rafaela Pimenta became Simons's agent.[65] In May 2023, he changed his representation to Darren Dein.[66]
^"Premier match amical pour le PSG" [First friendly match for PSG]. ParisTeam.fr (in French). 14 July 2021.
Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
^"Leipzig siegt dank Xavi-Traumtor" [Leipzig wins thanks to Xavi's dream goal] (in German). Sport1. 25 October 2023.
Archived from the original on 28 October 2023. Retrieved 28 October 2023.