Tottenham Hotspur supporters have been blessed to be able to watch some terrific midfield talents play for the club over the years, from Luka Modric, to Gareth Bale, to Rafa van der Vaart, to Moussa Dembele.
Modric, now 40, is still playing and shining for AC Milan in the Serie A, whilst the other three have since hung up their boots and moved on from football.
In the present day, Joao Palhinha has scored three goals in 11 matches in all competitions to start his career with the club on loan from Bayern Munich, but he is not a creative talent like Modric, van der Vaart, or Bale were.
Ranking Tottenham's best modern-day creators
The 2018 Ballon d’OR winner has to be up there as one of the best creators in Tottenham’s modern history. He laid on 24 assists in 160 matches for the club in all competitions before his move to Real Madrid, per Transfermarkt.
Christian Eriksen, however, has a strong claim to be above Modric in the ranking because he created 88 goals in 305 appearances for Spurs during his time in North London.
Dele Alli may rank between the two with his return of 59 assists in 269 matches for the club in all competitions, per Transfermarkt, which would place Modric third, Dele second, and Eriksen first.
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However, there is a new player at Spurs who may top all three of them and has the potential to be the Premier League’s new Dennis Bergkamp for Thomas Frank.
Tottenham may have unearthed their new Dennis Bergkamp
As much as Tottenham fans may not want to admit it, Bergkamp is a Premier League legend who used to light up English pitches with his creativity and invention for Arsenal.
The Dutch playmaker assisted 116 goals in 422 games for the Gunners, one every 3.63 matches on average, per Transfermarkt, which illustrates the creative ability that he brought to North London.
Xavi Simons may be the next version of Bergkamp in the Premier League after his move to Spurs from RB Leipzig during the summer transfer window.
The Netherlands international may only have one assist to his name for Tottenham to date, but his form in Germany and some of the promising signs that he has shown in the Premier League so far suggest that there is far more to come from him.
Simons created 21 goals in two seasons with Leipzig in all competitions after his move from PSV in the summer of 2023, which shows that he can provide assists on a regular basis.
Appearances
43
33
Big chances created
19
18
Games per big chance created
2.26
1.83
Key passes
67
102
Assists
8
13
As you can see in the table above, the Dutchman’s games per ‘big chance’ created rate was particularly impressive in both of those seasons in Germany, which suggests that he creates ‘big chances’ more frequently than Bergkamp registered assists for Arsenal.
His performance against Leeds United last weekend was a great example of inventiveness and creativity. On several occasions, Simons produced a moment of magic to open up the opposition’s defence when it looked secure, lifting the ball over defenders or playing through balls through the eye of a needle.
The assists will come for Simons, his history with Leipzig suggests as much. It just seems like a matter of time if he keeps doing what he was doing against Leeds; providing creativity, creating chances for teammates, being the spark in midfield.
His central midfield berth against the newly-promoted side could help him to be the creative hub of the team moving forward, and the Premier League’s next Bergkamp.
Like his compatriot, Simons is an incredibly creative and inventive player who can make things out of nothing, but it is now down to him to add the goals and assists to his game to match for the Arsenal man’s legacy and go down as one of Tottenham’s most creative players in their history.