Xavi Simons facts for kids
Simons playing for PSV in 2023
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Xavi Quentin Shay Simons | ||
| Date of birth | 21 April 2003 | ||
| Place of birth | Amsterdam, Netherlands | ||
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Attacking midfielder, winger | ||
| Team information | |||
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Current team
|
RB Leipzig (on loan from Paris Saint-Germain) |
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| Number | 10 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2008–2010 | CD Thader | ||
| 2010–2019 | Barcelona | ||
| 2019–2022 | Paris Saint-Germain | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2021–2022 | Paris Saint-Germain | 7 | (0) |
| 2022–2023 | PSV | 34 | (19) |
| 2023– | Paris Saint-Germain | 0 | (0) |
| 2023– | → RB Leipzig (loan) | 42 | (12) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2018 | Netherlands U15 | 5 | (1) |
| 2019 | Netherlands U16 | 3 | (0) |
| 2019 | Netherlands U17 | 6 | (3) |
| 2021 | Netherlands U19 | 6 | (3) |
| 2022 | Netherlands U21 | 2 | (0) |
| 2022– | Netherlands | 24 | (3) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:28, 18 January 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:00, 14 October 2024 (UTC) |
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Xavi Quentin Shay Simons (born on April 21, 2003) is a Dutch professional football player. He plays as an attacking midfielder or winger. Currently, he plays for the German club Bundesliga club RB Leipzig. He is on loan from the French club Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. Xavi also plays for the Netherlands national team.
Xavi Simons started his football journey at Barcelona's famous youth academy, La Masia. In July 2019, he joined Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). He first played for their youth team before becoming a professional player in 2021. With PSG, he won the French league (Ligue 1) and the French Cup (Coupe de France). In 2022, Simons returned to the Netherlands to play for PSV. In his one season there, he won the KNVB Cup, the Johan Cruyff Shield, and was the top scorer in the Eredivisie league. In 2023, he went back to PSG. Right after, he was loaned to RB Leipzig in Germany for two seasons.
Simons played for the Netherlands at different youth levels. He was first called up to the senior national team for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He made his debut at that big tournament.
Contents
About Xavi Simons' Early Life
Xavi Simons was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands. His father, Regillio Simons, was also a Dutch football player. Xavi's older brother, Faustino, also played football. They even share the same birthday!
Xavi's Club Career Journey
Starting His Football Path
Simons joined Barcelona's youth academy, La Masia, in 2010. He came from a club called Club Deportivo Thader in Alicante, Spain. He quickly became one of Barcelona's most promising young players. There were even reports that the English club Chelsea tried to sign him when he was very young. People called him a "prodigy" because of his amazing talent.
Playing for Paris Saint-Germain
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In July 2019, Simons moved to the French club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). He left Barcelona because they could not agree on a new contract. His contract with PSG was for three years. On February 10, 2021, Simons played his first professional game for PSG. He came on as a substitute in a 1–0 French Cup (Coupe de France) win against Caen. Two months later, he made his Ligue 1 debut in a 4–1 win over Strasbourg. On May 19, 2021, he won his first professional trophy, the Coupe de France.
For the 2021–22 season, Simons trained with the first team. On December 19, he made his first start for PSG in a 3–0 cup win. On January 3, 2022, Simons made his first assist in a senior game. He passed the ball to Kylian Mbappé in a 4–0 cup win. On February 11, he started his first Ligue 1 game. At the end of the season, Simons won the Ligue 1 title. This was his first professional league title.
Time at PSV Eindhoven
On June 28, 2022, Simons signed a five-year contract with the Dutch club PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie league. PSG had a special agreement to buy him back for about €6 million in 2023.
Simons scored his first goal for PSV in his very first game! It was a 5–3 win against Ajax in the Johan Cruyff Shield on July 30, 2022. In his first Eredivisie game on August 7, he helped set up a goal in a 4–1 victory. Simons also played in European games for PSV. He scored his first European goal in a 5–1 win against Zürich on October 6. In the 2023 KNVB Cup final, he helped set up a goal as PSV beat Ajax. In the last game of the 2022–23 Eredivisie season, Simons scored two goals, including a winning goal in the final moments. This helped PSV finish second and get a spot in the Champions League qualifiers. He scored nineteen goals in the Eredivisie, sharing the top scorer award. Simons ended the season with twenty-two goals and twelve assists in all games. He also won two "Player of the Month" awards.
On July 16, 2023, PSV announced that Simons was leaving to go back to Paris Saint-Germain.
Coming Back to Paris Saint-Germain
On July 19, 2023, Simons officially returned to Paris Saint-Germain. He signed a four-year contract. PSG used the special agreement to buy him back from PSV.
Loan to RB Leipzig
Right after rejoining Paris Saint-Germain, Simons was loaned to the German club RB Leipzig for the 2023–24 season. He was given the number 20 jersey. On August 12, 2023, he played his first game for Leipzig in a 3–0 win. On August 25, he scored his first Bundesliga goal in a 5–1 win. He also made two assists in that game. On October 25, Simons scored his first goal in the Champions League. He was named "player of the match" and became the youngest Dutch player to score and assist in the competition since Arjen Robben in 2003. By the end of the season, Simons had scored eight goals and made eleven assists in the Bundesliga. He helped RB Leipzig finish fourth.
On August 5, 2024, Simons was loaned to RB Leipzig again for another season. On January 12, 2025, he scored two goals in a 4–2 win. This was his first time scoring two goals in a Bundesliga game.
Xavi's International Career
Simons played for the Netherlands at various youth levels. These included the under-15, under-16, under-17, under-19, and under-21 teams.
On October 21, 2022, Simons was chosen for the Netherlands national team for the first time. On November 11, he was officially called up for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. He was the youngest player in the Dutch squad. On December 3, he made his debut for the Netherlands and in the World Cup. It was a 3–1 win against the United States. He became the youngest Dutch player to play in the knockout stages of the World Cup.
On March 24, 2023, Simons started his first game for the Netherlands. It was a Euro 2024 qualifier against France. He played in every game of the qualifying campaign. In June 2023, Simons was part of the Dutch team for the 2023 UEFA Nations League Finals. On May 29, 2024, Simons was named in the Netherlands' squad for UEFA Euro 2024. He scored his first goal for the senior national team on June 10, in a 4–0 win against Iceland. On July 10, he scored a goal against England in the Euro 2024 semi-finals. However, the Netherlands lost that game 2–1.
Xavi's Personal Life
When he was 13, Simons got his first advertising deal with Nike. He later switched to Adidas in 2021 and then to Puma in 2023. In August 2018, he was in a Nike commercial with other famous players like Neymar and Ronaldinho. Even when he was a youth player, Simons had a lot of followers on social media, especially Instagram. In 2019, at age 16, he had over two million followers. In March 2020, he was named one of the top fifty young football talents in the world by "Goal" website. "The Guardian" also included him in their "Next Generation 2020" list.
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Paris Saint-Germain | 2020–21 | Ligue 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22 | Ligue 1 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| Total | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | ||
| PSV | 2022–23 | Eredivisie | 34 | 19 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 48 | 22 |
| RB Leipzig (loan) | 2023–24 | Bundesliga | 32 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 10 |
| 2024–25 | Bundesliga | 10 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | 15 | 5 | ||
| Total | 42 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 58 | 15 | ||
| Career total | 83 | 31 | 11 | 2 | 21 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 117 | 37 | ||
International
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 2022 | 1 | 0 |
| 2023 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 13 | 3 | |
| Total | 24 | 3 | |
- Netherlands score listed first, score column indicates score after each Simons goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 June 2024 | De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands | 14 |  Iceland |
1–0 | 4–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 10 July 2024 | Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany | 20 |  England |
1–0 | 1–2 | UEFA Euro 2024 |
| 3 | 7 September 2024 | Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands | 21 |  Bosnia and Herzegovina |
5–2 | 5–2 | 2024–25 UEFA Nations League A |
Honours
Paris Saint-Germain
- Ligue 1: 2021–22
- Coupe de France: 2020–21
PSV
- KNVB Cup: 2022–23
- Johan Cruyff Shield: 2022
RB Leipzig
- DFL-Supercup: 2023
Individual Awards
- Eredivisie Player of the Month: August 2022, March 2023
- Eredivisie Talent of the Month: January 2023
- Eredivisie Team of the Month: August 2022, January 2023, February 2023, March 2023, May 2023
- Eredivisie top scorer: 2022–23 (shared)
- Johan Cruyff Trophy: 2022–23
- Bundesliga Goal of the Month: September 2023, January 2024
- Bundesliga Rookie of the Month: December 2023, April 2024
- VDV Bundesliga Team of the Season: 2023–24
Images for kids
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Simons with Paris Saint-Germain in 2020
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See also
In Spanish: Xavi Simons para niños
