Xavi Simons is about to help complete the Tottenham squad sooner than anticipated

There is a real case to be made that Xavi Simons is the most rawly talented player on Tottenham Hotspur, even when looking at how amazing Savio, Sandro Tonali, Jan Paul van Hecke, and Mateus Fernandes have been as new signings for Spurs. But Simons was a Bundesliga Player of the Season candidate as a clear leader for RB Leipzig, shining in all phases of attacking midfield play. Before his torn ACL at the end of the 2025/26 season, Simons looked incredible under Roberto De Zerbi, too, clearly benefiting from more competent coaching.

De Zerbi and Simons have sent each other a lot of love letters through the media since they hooked up together at N17, and it's easy to see that Simons and RDZ share a footballing brain, much like the manager does with his new deputies Tonali and Van Hecke.

Tottenham have been counting down the days until Simons is able to return to the team after his brutal knee injury during the relegation fight last season, and now they have been given the word that Simons could be back sooner than anticipated.

January or February, with February being more likely, has largely been seen as the destination time stamp for a Xavi Simons return to Tottenham Hotspur. Now, Tom Allnut of The Times is reporting that the Dutch star is ahead of schedule in his injury recovery, so much so that he is going to entire his final phase of recovery this month, meaning he will train with the first team.

Now, Roberto De Zerbi and Tottenham have changed a lot of things about the injury protocol at the club for the better after years of injury rashes and gross mismanagement, and one of the biggest pillars has been taking things slowly. Dejan Kulusevski's knee injury was even worse, but he was training for quite some time before making appearances off the bench - and he has yet to start, obviously, for Spurs, which is the right move.

So it make take Simons a full month of training in November before returning in December, and it's unclear what the exact timeline is. But a return to game action before the holiday break would be incredible and well ahead of schedule.

Simons returning to the squad does not fully complete Tottenham, because they still need a better No. 9 who can score goals regularly - and it does not seem quite like Omar Marmoush is that guy. But a player like Simons in the 10 who can create chances, carry the bal, beat defenders one on one, press, and score a bit is another piece of the puzzle that has been missed badly. A return ahead of schedule for Xavi puts Spurs one step closer to the Promised Land.