Tottenham Hotspur star Xavi Simmons has found himself in the sights of Raphael van der Vaart, and the former Tottenham midfielder is not impressed.
De Telegraaf reports on Van der Vaart's comments today. He has been critical of Simmons on Ziggo Sport's Rondo. And he admitted he expected more from the 22-year-old.
"He disappoints me," He said.
"I expected too much from him. He wants to show how good he is. It has the opposite effect
"He was a young talent and everyone was talking about him. He's still playing somewhat the same way."
"Nothing"
This disappointment is partly due to what came before Tottenham. Simons had established himself as a star man at RB Leipzig, scoring 22 goals and 24 assists in 78 games for the club.
He also impressed on loan at PSV Eindhoven, scoring 22 goals and 11 assists in a total of 48 games for the Dutch side. His record so far at Tottenham is four goals and five assists in 38 games.
Van der Vaart was watching and couldn't understand how it went so badly at Tottenham.
"His spell at Leipzig was really good. Tottenham is nothing. After PSV, he showed it in the Bundesliga as well," He added.
Van der Vaart is not the only one to be unsure about Xavi Simmons. Dutch icon Ruud Gullit is also watching. And as a result he is left surrounded by questions.
"He's very hyped. I still don't really know how good he can be," He concluded.
Premier League statistics disappoint
Taking a cold look at the numbers certainly wouldn't make a happy reading with Xavi Simmons, certainly in the Premier League.
The 22-year-old has managed just one goal and four assists in 25 games this season. These are not the kind of figures Tottenham expect from a player who cost €65m in the summer. RB Leipzig certainly don't regret this deal.
TransferMarket now values him at €50m. This alone shows how much Simmons has struggled this season.
Now Van der Vaart has his sights set on him, and he wants everyone to know he's not impressed. We're sure Tottenham fans share this sentiment.
