Tottenham Hotspur stepped into the Thomas Frank era with excitement, but anxiety too. Last season, Ange Postecoglou led the club to the Europa League title, but Spurs also finished 17th in the Premier League.
Circumstances matter, but there was much to be desired and Daniel Levy was justified in dismissing the Australian. Tottenham still ended their long search for silverware, and they did so having lost their definitive talisman of modern years at the very start of Ange’s tenure.
Harry Kane’s sale to Bayern Munich two years ago took from Tottenham their bona fide superstar. Heung-min Son once bore such a reputation, but he had steadily declined over a couple of years before moving to LAFC during the summer.
Now, though, there’s a sense that a few within the Lilywhites fold could reach such a level with a blend of hard work and Frank’s coaching.
The new Spurs superstars
Tottenham attacked the summer transfer window and have been duly rewarded for their ambition with several exciting talents.
Front and centre has been Mohammed Kudus, whose pace and physicality have seen him settle in at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after completing a £55m move from West Ham United in July.
The Ghanaian winger scored and assisted against Leeds United last weekend, instrumental in the 2-1 win. He’s imperfect, sure, but the pros far outweigh the cons, and four assists from seven top-flight fixtures so far (placing him joint-first with Jack Grealish) is nothing to be sniffed at.
The likes of Lucas Bergvall and Mathys Tel are also stars for the future, already playing important roles in Frank’s squad.
However, whether any of these players will rival the very best of the best remains to be seen. Premier League heavyweights such as Manchester City goal machine Erling Haaland and Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah.
However, the £52m signing of Xavi Simons from RB Leipzig this summer felt significant. Indeed, Tottenham have landed themselves an attacking midfielder with the potential to rival any across Europe.
Frank has struck gold on Xavi Simons
In August, Tottenham had to swallow their pride as Arsenal stole from them the signature of Eberechi Eze, who signed in a £60m deal after a move was in place down N17 for the Crystal Palace sensation.
Tottenham missed out on a number of transfer targets, but they struck gold with Simons, who had looked for many weeks to be joining Chelsea before the Blues signed Alejandro Garnacho.
Having played and impressed over the past several years in Germany with Leipzig, Simons arrived in England with more than his share of excitement, saying he had “been dreaming of this for a long time”.
And while the bedding-in period is very much in swing right now, the Netherlands international has shown glimpses of elite quality, having previously been described as a “world-class” talent by countryman Rafael van de Vaart.
The data backs this up. Not only did Simons perform prolifically in front of goal for his German side, notching 46 goal contributions from 78 outings in all competitions, but his underlying data emphasises his ability.
Data platform FBref have crunched the numbers: across the 2024/25 Bundesliga campaign, the 22-year-old ranked among the top 16% of positional peers for goal contributions, the top 15% for shot-creating actions, the top 6% for progressive passes, the top 19% for progressive carries and the top 5% for ball recoveries per 90.
A ball recovery is defined by the number of loose balls recovered by a player.
The Dutchman’s robustness and consistency across all facets for Leipzig further underpins his potential, and indeed his chances of becoming the standout for a Tottenham side on the up.
Matches (starts)
32 (32)
25 (25)
Goals
8
10
Assists
11
7
Shots (on target)*
2.5 (1.0)
2.0 (0.9)
Touches*
62.6
68.0
Pass completion
82%
83%
Big chances created
14
12
Key passes*
2.5
2.0
Dribbles*
2.6
1.3
Ball recoveries*
5.2
5.1
Tackles + interceptions*
1.4
1.6
Duels won*
6.3
5.4
While the likes of Salah and Haaland are one-of-a-kind players, Simons, too, is the full package, and has a style of play that could see him remain a cut above his Tottenham teammates, scoring and creating and orchestrating and defending.
Could Simons even leave north London, one day, with the awe and admiration of the Tottenham persuasion in a similar fashion to Kane? Certainly, we could look back at that £52m transfer fee as a shrewd figure.
As per Transfermarkt, Simons is already worth around £61m, and given his youth and inexperience within the English game, he is only going to get better as time goes on.
Harking back to FBref, the statistical site have revealed Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Martin Odegaard to be among his most tactically comparable players. Looking at the success each of these creators has forged for themselves in recent years, it’s easy to see why fans are beginning to get excited.
Called a “game-changer” by talent scout Jacek Kulig, this is exactly the type of buy to align with the grand plans of the club. Richarlison and the like have quality in the final third, but this is a different standard.
Simons was the marquee signing at Tottenham this summer, and with that comes expectation and scrutiny. He hasn’t yet provided the sustained quality that his skillset suggests is in there, but it will come, especially with one of the finest coaches in the business, Frank, pulling the strings.
When Simons hits his stride, raising Spurs’ collective level, we might just find this outfit celebrating the birth of a new superstar, one who could rival the Salah’s and the Haaland’s of the Premier League.