Tottenham Hotspur officially confirmed that Daniel Levy was stepping down from his role as the chairman of the club last week, after more than 24 years at the helm.
The English supremo had not long finished, what turned out to be, his final transfer window running the show in North London, months after the club lifted the Europa League trophy.
Ange Postecoglou led Spurs to their first trophy in 17 years by beating Manchester United in the final, but Levy still decided to move on from the manager because of the club’s poor form in the Premier League.
Thomas Frank was brought in from Brentford to replace the former Celtic boss. The Danish manager was then backed by Levy in the transfer market, with the signings of Mohammed Kudus, Randal Kolo Muani, and Xavi Simons, in particular.
It is now a matter of wait and see to judge whether or not the former Tottenham chairman’s final signings in charge of the club were a success.
On paper, though, Simons appears to be an incredibly exciting addition to the squad, as his form in Germany suggests that he could make a big impact in the Premier League.
Why Xavi Simons is an exciting signing for Spurs
The Lilywhites reportedly splashed out a fee worth up to £51m to sign the Netherlands international from RB Leipzig to bolster Frank’s attacking midfield options after James Maddison sustained an ACL injury.
Simons has yet to make his debut for the club, having signed shortly before the 1-0 loss to Bournemouth last time out, and could make his bow against West Ham United on Saturday.
The Dutch playmaker is an exciting signing for Spurs because his form for Leipzig suggests that he can add a lot of creativity to Frank’s midfield, as shown in the graphic below.
These statistics show that Simons is an attacking midfielder who is incredibly effective at breaking down opposition defences to create high-quality chances for his teammates to find the back of the net.
Naturally, there will be a comparison made to Maddison because the Dutch star is essentially coming in to take his role as creator-in-chief whilst the England international nurses his way back from an ACL injury.
Appearances
25
31
xG
5.11
5.83
Goals
10
9
Big chances created
12
6
xA
5.98
5.91
Assists
7
7
Dribbles completed
1.3
1.1
As you can see in the table above, Simons delivered more goals and created twice as many ‘big chances’ at league level in comparison to the former Leicester and Norwich star in the 2024/25 campaign.
These statistics suggest that the potential is there for him to be even more valuable to the team than Maddison if he can hit the ground running in England, but it is now down to him to adapt to the league and deliver on the pitch.
Whilst Simons, who has been signed for £51m, is a very exciting addition because of the attacking quality that he could provide, Levy may not want to be reminded that there is a player who left Spurs for nothing and is now worth even more than the Dutchman.
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Tottenham had Noni Madueke in their youth set-up and failed to keep hold of him as a teenager, which was a blunder that the now former-Spurs chief may regret.
Why Noni Madueke left Tottenham Hotspur
The left-footed forward joined the club’s academy from Crystal Palace in 2014, at the age of 12, and spent four years in the youth ranks before his exit on a free transfer in 2018.
Speaking to Sky Sports in 2023, Madueke explained: “Tottenham was a great academy and they’ve got a great development plan. I’d been offered a scholarship agreement at Tottenham but I’d seen a lot of the boys – that were good as well – just kind of get lost in the system and I just didn’t want that for me.”
This is only an inference from these quotes, but it seems like the winger did not see a clear enough pathway to the first-team, despite Harry Kane’s emergence a few years prior, and that is down to Levy and the first-team management team for not making that clear enough.
The club were unable to convince Madueke that there was a pathway for him, which led to the talented forward’s exit in 2018 on a free transfer, signing for PSV in the Netherlands to continue his development.
He scored 20 goals and provided 13 assists in 80 appearances in all competitions for PSV, per Transfermarkt, before his move to Chelsea in January 2023.
Madueke enjoyed similar success during his time at Stamford Bridge. The England international scored 20 goals and produced nine assists in 92 outings for the Blues, per Transfermarkt.
His form for Chelsea led to a move to Arsenal earlier this summer in a deal that could be worth up to £52m, £1m more than the deal that brought Simons to Spurs in the same transfer window.
October 2019
£520k
April 2020
£3.9m
October 2020
£5.2m
October 2021
£15.6m
September 2022
£13m
January 2023
£29m move to Chelsea
June 2023
£26m
October 2024
£30m
December 2024
£34.7m
July 2025
£52m move to Arsenal
As you can see in the table above, the 23-year-old star’s value has soared exponentially since his move to PSV from Spurs on a free transfer in 2018.
Spurs had a howler, therefore, when Levy and the first-team management staff, led by Mauricio Pochettino at the time, failed to offer a clear enough pathway to convince him to continue his development at the club.
Madueke, who was described as a “maverick” by analyst Ben Mattinson, has gone on to become an England international and Premier League star who is now valued at more than £50m and slightly more than Tottenham’s star summer signing Xavi Simons.
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Levy, when looking back at his long Spurs tenure, may regret that he was unable to convince, or unable to create an environment to convince, Madueke to stay at the club back in 2018, because of what he has gone on to achieve.