Xavi Quentin Shay Simons was born on April 21st, 2003, in Amsterdam, Holland. Named after the Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez it felt predestined when he was snapped up, aged just seven, by the Catalan giants, and tutored in the art of tiki-taka at the club’s famed La Masia academy.
There he stayed, captaining the U15s and U17s and finding himself pitched as the next Lionel Messi, until a contract dispute resulted in him moving to Paris in 2019.
Simons was 16 at the time and already he had appeared in a television advertisement for Nike alongside Ronaldinho. Already he was on the books of the most powerful footballing agent in the world. Already he had over 2 million followers in Instagram.
| Per year | €1,538,381 | £1,300,062 |
| Per month | €128,198 | £108,338 |
| Per week | €29,584 | £25,000 |
| Per day | €4,214 | £3,561 |
| Per hour | €175 | £147 |
| Per minute | €2 | £1 |
This was all before he had kicked a single ball in the professional game.
Five years later and the attacking midfielder is readying himself for his first Euros, with all of Holland looking to him for inspiration, and the journey from back then to now has been a fascinating and complicated one. So read on.
Find out too how turning all of the hype into brilliant, productive football has made Xavi Simons an enormously wealthy individual.
How Much Is Xavi Simons Worth?
Aged just 13, Simons signed his first major endorsement deal, with Nike viewing him as the big, bright future of football. In 2021, the player switched to Adidas and he is presently with Puma, promoting their iconic King range.
These deals alone will have netted the youngster a substantial fortune.
As for his salary, a year on loan at RB Leipzig in 2023/24 brought in wages totalling £1.3m, a figure that does not include incentives such as win bonuses.
Team Specials - Netherlands To Score Over 1 Goal In Each Of Their 3 Group Games
Elsewhere, there are surprisingly few commercial affiliations, especially as the player had super-agent Mino Raiola representing him for several years. It is believed that he drives a modest Ford SUV and rents an apartment in Paris.
That aside little is known about his off-field activities and business interests. Simons has a net worth estimated at £4m. We can expect that to comfortably treble in seasons to come.
From PSG Back To PSG
Nicknamed ‘Golden Curls’ Simons ended a nine-year footballing education at Barcelona on a sour note but he still feels there is unfinished business in Catalonia. For their part, Blaugrana are repeatedly linked to the young star, desperate to be reunited with a talent they honed and crafted.
Still for the present, Simons remains a PSG property, and that was the case in 2019 when he moved to the French capital aged only 16.
Patiently biding his time in the under-19s where he excelled, Simons finally made his first-team bow in February 2021 in the Coupe De France, appearing for the first time in Ligue 1 two months later.
An impressive pre-season persuaded manager Mauricio Pochettino that his wunderkind was ready and a further handful of outings duly followed.
Yet to date, though loved by the Parisian public for his conjuring skills, that has also made him a live betting favourite, Simons has only made 28 appearances for PSG.
A loan spell was planned soon after, with Dutch club PSV heading the queue, but Eindhoven changed their minds mid-negotiation and insisted on a permanent deal.
PSG agreed, but only if a €6m buy-back clause was included, that could be triggered one year later.
As it transpired, that was a shrewd decision because Simons was sensational back home in Holland, tearing Eredivisie to shreds with his adventurous runs and clever touches. By the season’s end the 20-year-old had accrued 28 goal involvements in 39 league games.
It was therefore no surprise when the French giants bought the midfielder back. What did surprise was their choice to immediately loan the star back out, this time to RB Leipzig.
Once again, Golden Curls was superb, consistently influencing proceedings and ending his most recent campaign with 13 assists. It was enough to see him selected for the Bundesliga Team of the Year.
Will someone please inform PSG of how good their player is.
Family Life
Simons’ father Regillio was a professional footballer, turning out for Fortuna Sittard and NAC Breda. His mother meanwhile was a huge football fan and moreover an ardent admirer of Xavi Hernandez. Hence her second-born being christened in his honour.
Simons has an older brother named Faustino after the former Newcastle forward Asprilla.
Due to his father’s profession, Xavi grew up in affluence which perhaps explains his lack of extravagant purchases or the need to capitalise on his fame by flogging watches and breakfast cereals.
Instead he prefers to focus entirely on his football.
This might also explain why the 21-year-old is currently single despite tabloids romantically linking him to every female he encounters.
Social Media
Simons has 4.2 million Instagram followers and regularly posts match photos as well as promotional fare for Puma. What’s the betting that figure rises even more if he shows off his skills at the Euros.
On Twitter, where he has 200,000 followers, the Dutch ace mainly posts action shots but is not averse to tweeting motivational messages. Rarely does he reveal anything of a private life that he wishes to remain so.
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Alamy*
