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Eberechi Eze claim made as Tottenham ‘benefit’ from landing Bundesliga ace

Originally posted on To The Lane And Back
By Jainil Shah | Last updated Sep 4, 2025 4:50 PM ET

Tottenham Hotspur acted fast to land Xavi Simons after missing out on Eberechi Eze

Tottenham Hotspur had a mixed window where the North Londoners saw quite a few setbacks, given how there were a lot of pivots that needed to be made, and one of them was that big headline news where the Lilywhites ended up losing out on Eberechi Eze to Arsenal.

For a long time, it did look certain that the Crystal Palace star would be heading to Hotspur Way, but in the eleventh hour, we saw Tottenham’s North London rivals hijack the deal.

But the chiefs at Hotspur Way were quick to pivot as the North Londoners ended up signing Xavi Simons instead, and there is a growing sense among many supporters that Tottenham may have ended up getting a better deal. It also comes through in the recent interview that Spurs technical director John Lange gave, where he discussed the North Londoners signing the Dutch international.

Wenham backs Tottenham signing Simons over Eze

And Lilywhite Rose owner John Wenham was discussing Tottenham missing out on Eze in an exclusive interview with Tottenham News. The podcast host believes that Tottenham missing out on the Englishman may prove a blessing in disguise.

He said:

“At the end of the day, he’s five years younger than Eze but seemingly got a significant amount of experience. With those experiences he’s had already, and he’s been on the scene from such a young age; like, at 17, he was making first-team appearances. Obviously, Eze has that Premier League experience with him.

And I think Eze equally would have been a very, very good signing for Tottenham, but for whatever reason, Simons has popped up now, and he’s available. Tottenham have swooped in, and that’s massively to our benefit.”

Simons vs Eze it a difficult debate

Simons and Eze is not an easy debate; while the latter has grinned his way into the tiers of English football, the former has always had it on a silver platter after graduating from Barcelona’s prestigious La Masia academy. And then Simons has had a stage to showcase his talent at a young age, and he has shown more than just glimpses of his potential at twenty-two (22), while Eze was fighting for his dream move at twenty-seven (27).

The difference could not be more than this. On one hand, Arsenal have signed someone who is more of a finished product and a proven Premier League player who is in his prime. While on the other hand, Tottenham have taken a risk. Daniel Levy has signed a younger player who has established himself as a top talent but is still figuring out what he can be.

And for Thomas Frank, the upside about this is that he will not just cover for Maddison while the England international is recovering from injury but will be someone who has the capacity to be the face of their rebuild.

This article first appeared on To The Lane And Back and was syndicated with permission.

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