Xavi Simons confirms injury, will miss rest of the season and the World Cup

During a clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Hugo Bueno, the Netherlands international Simons collapsed, clutching his knee in severe pain. After preliminary assessments by Tottenham Hotspur's medical team, he briefly returned to the pitch before ultimately being carried off on a stretcher.

Subsequent examinations revealed a complete rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, sidelining him for approximately 12 months and excluding him from the forthcoming FIFA World Cup hosted across Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

They say life can be cruel and today it feels that way, Simons posted on Instagram while announcing the devastating update. My season has come to an abrupt end and I’m just trying to process it. Honestly, I’m heartbroken. None of it makes sense.

All I’ve wanted to do is fight for my team and now the ability to do that has been snatched away from me… along with the World Cup. Representing my country this summer… just gone. It’ll take time to find peace with this, but I’ll continue to be the best teammate I can be. I have no doubt that together we’ll win this fight.

The 23 year old Dutch player initially calmed concerns for head coach Roberto de Zerbi, who commented after Tottenham's vital victory: I spoke with him, and he feels better than when he got his injury.

Xavi Simons was hitting form for the underperforming Tottenham side, netting two goals and providing one assist across his previous five appearances for the club. Over 28 Premier League matches, he contributed two goals and five assists following his transfer from RB Leipzig in a deal valued at €65 million.

Injury headache

This setback adds to the mounting injury woes for Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman, with the FIFA World Cup now only 45 days distant.

Koeman has faced numerous player unavailabilities of late, including Frenkie de Jong, Emmanuel Emegha, Memphis Depay, Ryan Gravenberch, Robin Roefs, Matthijs de Ligt, Mark Flekken, and Jeremie Frimpong, who all sat out the March internationals versus Ecuador and Norway.

PSV skipper and Netherlands midfielder Jerdy Schouten had previously been excluded from the World Cup lineup due to an ACL tear suffered in early April, while De Ligt and Depay are striving to recover sufficiently for the competition.

The Netherlands find themselves in Group F alongside Japan, Sweden, and Tunisia for the tournament. Their campaign kicks off on Sunday, June 14th, facing Japan.