Main content

Wayne Meets鈥avi Simons: What It鈥檚 Really Like Being a Wonderkid

Wayne, Kelly and Kae visit Tottenham to chat with Xavi Simons about life as a football prodigy, being mentored by Neymar and his ambitions in the Premier League.

Wayne, Kelly Somers and Kae Kurd head to Tottenham鈥檚 training ground for an in-depth conversation with Tottenham鈥檚 exciting attacking midfielder, Xavi Simons. In a rare and revealing interview, Xavi opens up about his extraordinary journey from child prodigy to fully fledged international star, including what it was really like to have 2 million Instagram followers at just 12 years old, and why he feels fame stole parts of his youth.

Xavi and Wayne compare experiences of being hyped before making a senior debut, and dive into the huge life shifts that came with Xavi鈥檚 moves from the Netherlands to Barcelona, Paris, Leipzig and London. Xavi explains how he felt about leaving Bar莽a for PSG at 16 and what it was like walking into a dressing room with Kylian Mbapp茅, Neymar, Thiago Silva, Marquinhos and Marco Verratti and how Neymar became a mentor to him.

Xavi shares why he chose Tottenham, his ambitions in the Premier League and the player who鈥檚 impressed him most in England since arriving.

He also discusses the influence of Ruud van Nistelrooy on his career, while Wayne reveals why he never imagined Van Nistelrooy as a manager and remembers when Ruud would get so frustrated with Cristiano Ronaldo that he鈥檇 walk off the United training pitch. Wayne also opens up about his childhood idol Duncan Ferguson, the letters he wrote to him in prison, and the time Barcelona鈥檚 goalkeeper accidentally drove over his foot as a kid.

You can watch The Wayne Rooney Show on 麻豆社 Sport YouTube, iPlayer, as well as listen on 麻豆社 Sounds.

Release date:

7 months left to watch

29 minutes

More episodes

Next

Coming soon

See all episodes from The Wayne Rooney Show

Featured in...