Xavi Simons

Xavi's older brother Faustino (born 1996), who also played football, shares the same birthday as him.

Xavi Quentin Shay Simons (born 21 April 2003) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or right winger for Bundesliga club RB Leipzig, on loan from Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain, and the Netherlands national team.

Simons joined the youth setup of Barcelona in 2010 from Club Deportivo Thader of Alicante, and quickly progressed to become one of the Catalan club's most highly-rated youth players, with English club Chelsea reportedly attempting to sign him at a young age.

Described as a "prodigy", he joined the group of players represented by agent Mino Raiola in 2017.

Originally a product of Barcelona's La Masia, he signed for Paris Saint-German (PSG) in July 2019, where he would initially join the under-19s before making his professional debut in February 2021.

With PSG, Simons won a Ligue 1 title and a Coupe de France.

In 2022, he returned to the Netherlands with PSV, winning the KNVB Cup, Johan Cruyff Shield, and Eredivisie top scorer award in his only season at the club.

In 2023, he returned to PSG before being immediately loaned out to RB Leipzig in Germany.

Initially playing for the Netherlands at youth level, Simons received his first call-up to the national team for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

He made his debut in a 3–1 win over the United States in the round of 16 as the Netherlands crashed out in the quarter-finals.

Born in Amsterdam, Xavi is the son of Peggy Simons and Dutch former footballer Regillio Simons, who is of Surinamese descent.

In July 2019, Simons moved to French club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), having failed to agree a new contract with Barcelona.

His three-year contract with the Parisian club was reportedly worth up to €1 million annually.

On 10 February 2021, Simons made his professional debut for PSG, coming on as a substitute for Julian Draxler in a 1–0 Coupe de France win over Caen.

He made his Ligue 1 debut as a substitute in a 4–1 win over Strasbourg two months later.

On 19 May 2021, he won his first professional trophy, the Coupe de France.

Ahead of the 2021–22 season, Simons was included in the first-team preparation and pre-season by manager Mauricio Pochettino.

On 14 July 2021, he came off the bench and scored a goal in a 4–0 friendly win over Le Mans at the Camp des Loges.

He scored another goal in a 2–2 friendly draw against Chambly three days later at the same ground.

On 18 August, Simons was sent back to train with the under-19 squad coached by Zoumana Camara.

He eventually made his first appearance of the season for PSG in a 3–0 cup win over Feignies Aulnoye on 19 December, his first ever professional start.

On 3 January 2022, Simons recorded his first senior assist in a 4–0 cup win over Vannes, a pass for Kylian Mbappé.

His first league appearance of the 2021–22 season came in a 1–1 draw against Lyon on 9 January, where he came on as a 69th minute substitute.

On 31 January, Simons missed the final penalty in a 6–5 penalty shoot-out defeat to Nice in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France.

On 11 February, he made his first league start in a 1–0 win over Rennes at the Parc des Princes.

At the end of the season, Simons won the Ligue 1 title, his first professional league title.

On 28 June 2022, Simons signed for Eredivisie club PSV on a five-year contract.

Although he was initially expected to extend his contract with PSG and join PSV on loan, the situation changed when PSV no longer wanted a loan deal.

However, PSG negotiated a reported €6 million buy-back clause in Simons's contract, effective in 2023.

Simons scored his first career goal on his PSV debut, a 5–3 win over rivals Ajax in the Johan Cruyff Shield on 30 July 2022.

On 7 August, in his first Eredivisie game, he provided an assist for Johan Bakayoko, who opened the scoring in a 4–1 victory against newly-promoted Emmen.

Simons made his European debut with PSV in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers, and scored his first European goal in a 5–1 UEFA Europa League group stage victory away to Zürich on 6 October.

In the 2023 KNVB Cup final, he provided the assist for Thorgan Hazard's goal as PSV came out victorious over Ajax on penalties.

In the final match of the 2022–23 Eredivisie season on 28 May 2023, Simons scored a brace, including a stoppage-time winner, in a 2–1 victory over AZ, securing second place for PSV and a spot in the Champions League qualifiers for the following season.

With nineteen goals, he shared the Eredivisie top scorer award with Anastasios Douvikas of Utrecht.

Simons finished the club season with twenty-two goals and twelve assists in forty-eight games across all competitions, and won two Player of the Month awards in August 2022 and March 2023.

On 16 July 2023, it was announced by PSV that Simons had departed the club's training camp in order to finalize a transfer back to Paris Saint-Germain.

On 19 July 2023, Simons returned to Paris Saint-Germain, signing a four-year contract after the club triggered a reported €6 million buy-back clause in his PSV contract, where Simons had the final say on his return.

Immediately after being signed back by Paris Saint-Germain, Simons was loaned out to Bundesliga club RB Leipzig for the 2023–24 season.

He was assigned the number 20 jersey.