Thomas Frank reacts to Xavi Simons debut for Tottenham as Enzo Maresca learns what Chelsea missed out on

Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank has given his verdict on Xavi Simons’ debut against West Ham United at London Stadium, as Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca is made aware of what he missed out on.

Simons joined Tottenham from RB Leipzig in the summer transfer window. The north London outfit, who won the Europa League last season and will play in the Champions League in the 2025/26 campaign, paid Leipzig €60million (£52m, $70.4m) for Simons, who is able to play as an attacking midfielder or as a winger.

The former Paris Saint-Germain winger was a star during his time at Leipzig, scoring 22 goals and giving 24 assists in 78 matches in all competitions.

Chelsea were also keen on a summer deal for Simons, with TEAMtalk’s transfer correspondent, Fraser Fletcher, reporting on July 24 that the winger had given his approval to a deal and was ready to join Maresca’s side, who won the Conference League last season and the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the summer.

However, in the end, it was Tottenham who pressed ahead for Simons and got a deal done with Leipzig.

Spurs manager Frank included Simons in the starting line-up for the Premier League game against West Ham at London Stadium on Saturday.

Tottenham won the London derby 3-0, with the Hammers being reduced to 10 men in the 54^th minute following the dismissal of Tomas Soucek.

Simons started on the left of a front-three in a 4-3-3 formation and provided the assist for Pape Matar’s goal in the 47^th minute with a wonderfully-taken corner.

Although the 22-year-old did not always get involved in the game and looked rusty at times, some of his touches and movements were very encouraging.

Frank took Simons off for Richarlison in the 71^st minute, as Tottenham went on to win 3-0.

During his time on the pitch, Simons took one shot which was not on target, made an assist (for the goal), had a pass accuracy of 84.4%, won one header, took 50 touches, attempted one dribble, made one tackle, and put in seven crosses.

Frank told BBC Sport about Simons after the match: “I thought he was really good, really promising. There’s more to come.

“Excellent ball for the goal. He created something when he was on the ball.”

Football.London quotes Frank as saying about Simons: “I think he was promising. I liked what I saw from him.

“I liked that he took initiative on the ball. Every single time he had the ball he tried to create something.

“And I think he had a wonderful assist for the first goal from a corner. Worked hard as well. I think it was a good first game.”

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