Tottenham Hotspur sent a huge message to the rest of the Premier League with their capture of Xavi Simons from RB Leipzig, especially after missing out on Eberechi Eze to Arsenal.
After a rollercoaster summer — winning the Europa League, changing manager, losing the Uefa Super Cup on penalties and signing the likes of Mohammed Kudus and Joao Palhinha — missing out on Eze stung.
But the arrival of Simons should dismiss that disappointment, with some Spurs fans even tipping the Netherlands international to outshine Eze and propel their club into a Premier League title race.
So, who really won this North London transfer battle?
Picking the lock
While both Simons and Eze will be expected to contribute substantially toward their respective sides’ goal counts, they’ve primarily been signed for their creative output.
Tottenham and Arsenal boast the likes of Viktor Gyokeres, Dominic Solanke, Richarlison and Bukayo Saka in forward areas, giving these midfield maestros plenty to aim at.
Simons’ brand of creativity is much more refined than that of Eze, who leans more on dynamism and unpredictability to unbalance defences.
The former created 2.1 chances per 90 minutes in the Bundesliga last season compared to 2.0 in the Premier League from the latter, also coming out on top for passes completed, passing accuracy and through-balls.
Simons was also a clear winner when progressing the ball into the final third through passing, completing 14.73 passes per 90 into this area and completing 0.42 through balls, while Eze only managed 8.27 and 0.14, respectively.
However, Eze far outstripped Simons in the dribbling stakes, completing a massive 2.4 take-ons per 90 compared to 1.4, at a 51.94% success rate — with Simons only tasting success with 37.08% of his take-ons.
“He is a powerful and exciting player who will give us a new dimension in our attacking game,” Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said of Eze upon Arsenal’s unveiling of the player from Crystal Palace — where he was the primary ball carrier, compared to Simons playing in a much more rigid Leipzig system.
This feels well-suited to their respective teams, with Arsenal already having elite passers in Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice, meaning Eze can add some chaos to the midfield mix — not that he’s a bad passer of the ball himself.
Meanwhile, Simons will be a direct replacement for the technical brilliance and vision of James Maddison, who is out long-term with an ACL injury.
That being said, both players are problem solvers rather than specialists, thanks to their ability to take up No.8, No.10 and wing positions.
The architect vs the cannon
As mentioned, both players will be expected to carry a large share of the burden in terms of raw attacking output this season.
There’s little separating the pair over the last few seasons in that regard, with Eze bagging 35 goals for Palace since the start of 2022/23, compared to 44 strikes for Simons — though one of those seasons was spent playing in the Netherlands for a very dominant PSV Eindhoven side.
Eze enjoyed a career-best 14-goal return last season to help Palace win the FA Cup.
Nevertheless, Simons contributed 11 goals and eight assists in just 28 domestic appearances for Leipzig last season, while the 22-year-old talent has five goals and four assists to his name in 28 senior Netherlands caps.
“Xavi has proven his ability to get goals and assists, both from the No.10 position and left-wing,” Frank said of his new star, adding: “He also has a great eye for his teammates in terms of unlocking defences, and I know he will come in and be part of a good team that is already working hard together.”
The pair are incredibly difficult to separate here, especially since Simons ascended to a top-five league — perhaps best shown in the fact they were just 0.1 touches in the opposition box per 90 apart in 2024/25 league play.
Simons and Eze are goal dangerous, relentlessly creative and have two very different but equally effective toolkits for breaking down the opposition.
One area where the duo did perform similarly in 2024/25 was their defensive output, registering 0.88 and 0.62 possessions won in the final third per 90, respectively, as well as 1.17 and 1.35 tackles.
Their tenacity and mobility will be key here, with both Frank and Arteta expecting their attacking pieces to press quickly and intelligently, while being unafraid to robustly win the ball back when the opportunity presents itself.
Xavi Simons: The perfect fit for Spurs
Ultimately, both North London giants have pulled off incredible deals by signing Eze and Simons.
Of course, there will be the fear among Spurs fans that Eze could come back to haunt them after coming so close to signing him. And the taunts from Gunners supporters will be unbearable if that happens when the two sides lock horns in November.
But losing that particular transfer battle may have been a blessing in disguise for the Lilywhites.
Frank already has plenty of explosive dribblers and unpredictable wingers at his disposal in Kudus, Brennan Johnson and, when back fit, Dejan Kulusevski.
Meanwhile, at the base of midfield, the likes of Palhinha and Pape Sarr are very functional, while Lucas Bergvall is an elite progressor of the ball. Having Simons at the tip of a trio offers a much-needed injection of creativity and risk-taking in the final third.
And as mentioned, Eze feels like a perfect fit for Arsenal, whether providing dynamism in the midfield or challenging Gabriel Martinelli on the wing.
Eze certainly wouldn’t have been a bad fit for Tottenham, but he wouldn’t have been a like-for-like replacement for Maddison, while you can easily see an overlap between what he and Kulusevski are best at. And that’s without mentioning the fact he’s five years older than Simons.
For Tottenham, losing the battle for Eze may have been a key step in winning the war for their tactical identity.