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From “FAILED” CHILD PRODIGY to GENERATIONAL TALENT | This is How Xavi Simons REVIVED HIS CAREER
Xavi Simons has been ABSURD this season. With 22 goals to his name, he is one of the best-performing teenagers IN THE WORLD!
When 12 year old Xavi Simons exploded onto the La Masia scene, the footballing world was in awe. Highlights videos of his were amassing millions of views by the day, people swore he was the next Xavi, the next Messi, the next Iniesta, he was a celebrity before his 15th birthday, he had more money than anyone his age, and he had even been signed by Nike at 13. He was on top of the world but then out of nowhere he would transfer to PSG, which unbeknownst to him, would trigger a staggering decline towards the status of a failed prodigy. Well he watched Ansu Fati, Ilaix Moriba and Gavi, all his former teammates, star for Barcelona’s senior team, he was resigned to barely making it onto the Paris bench. He had gone from child prodigy to “overhyped”, to borderline irrelevant in 3 years. It was all crashing down for him, but then quite simply one decision would revive his career in a heartbeat. Take a seat, and welcome to the rise, the fall, and the re-rise of La Masia’s maestro: Xavi Simons.
Forget about the last couple years, this was a blank page, a fresh-start to showcase his talent to the world. He had to take this opportunity, and genuinely, nothing would be wasted. It was immediately exhibited that compared to all the other child prodigies, this kid was unlike the rest. Instead of being content with his millions of followers like Hachim Mastour or Alen Halilovic, he had this drive to prove to the world that he was more than just an instagram star. In his very first game for PSV, it would take him 17 minutes off the bench to score versus Ajax in the Johan Cruijff Schaal. And from there on out, he wouldn’t look back. During the month of august alone, he would have assisted on his Eredivisie debut, and then went on to net a brace and then another brace and then another brace. 6 goals, 2 assists in his very first 4 Eredivisie games was, well, unexpectedly phenomenal. So much so, the 19 year-old would win Eredivisie player of the month… in his 1st real professional month.
Although his goal and assist tally would slow down a bit over the next couple months, his performances would still remain at the very top. Playing as a false 9, he would continue to display creative dominance game after game, forming a strong pairing with dutch superstar, Cody Gakpo, and In late October, Simons would tear apart the most on-form team on the planet, Arsenal, in a Europa league match, dribbling through player after player and then scoring an amazing solo goal, that would be unluckily disallowed. And it was really around this point on time, the narrative would flip. No longer would he hold that title of a “failed child prodigy”, but instead a true wonderkid and Louis Van Gaal’s world cup call up despite never playing for the Dutch national team would only bolster his reputation. Although he would only play 8 total minutes, it was amazing that he was even there after only being in the u19s one year ago. Now as we know, after the world cup, Cody Gakpo, a player with 21 goal contributions, would leave, depleting an already relatively weak PSV side. Yet, instead of worsening Xavi's numbers and worsening the side overall, Xavi Simons would only step up his play. After a very weak January for PSV, he would switch to playing as a left-winger, and then virtually decide to put his team on his back from there on out. From February on, PSV wouldn’t lose a SINGLE game for the rest of the Eredivisie season, and Simons himself would net 10 goals and 5 assists in 15 games, carrying the side to a 2nd place finish and a win in the KNVB Cup. Now this brings us to the present, where Xavi is arguably both the young player of the season and the player season, is the top scorer of the Eredivisie, and is one of the front-runners for the Golden boy and the KOPA award. 7 years later, and he’s still that technically brilliant midfielder like he's always been, but he has so much more to his game. His footballing IQ is miles better than ever, and he's a very good defensive player. Having played years as an aggressive centre midfielder, he knows how to get stuck into tackles, win the ball, and read passing lines, but he also has elite stamina allowing him to harass opposition for the entirety of the match. In the modern game, the “press” is a crucial part of being an attacker and Simons has that in his locker. Additionally, I mean his goal-scoring ability is now of an attacker rather than just a midfielder. 22 goals in all competitions says at all. Now as he still plays in the dutch league, the transfer links are coming in hot. PSG still have a very cheap buy-back clause, well Arsenal have been heavily linked to him for
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