Xavi Simons candid: ‘Those were the worst days of my life. I didn’t eat anything for a week’

Xavi Simons has been through the toughest spell of his life, he says on Tottenham Hotspur's club channels. The Dutchman suffered a serious knee injury at the end of last season.

On 25 April, disaster struck for Simons. During Tottenham's league match against Wolverhampton Wanderers, he twisted awkwardly and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

That injury ruled Simons out of the World Cup with the Netherlands, as well as the crucial run-in at club level. Tottenham were locked in a nerve-shredding relegation battle at the time. Simons could barely stand the fact he could not help his team.

"It was a move I had probably made ten thousand times in my life," Simons recalls of the moment. "Just when I wanted to go past him, my opponent decided to step in front of me. I felt my legs pinned to the ground while my body went the other way."

"I said to myself, 'Let me see if something is wrong, let me get up.' I tried to get up, but then I felt my knee pop out of place and go straight back in. That was when I knew it was over. The doctors called me over and said: 'Xavi, we're sorry, but it's the anterior cruciate ligament.' When I heard that, it felt as if my whole body collapsed."

After that came the tears. "Of course I cried, just like my family," Simons said. "The next day my mother came to our house. I remember us sitting at the table in the morning and I just kept thinking that I was missing the most important thing: helping my club in the fight against relegation. She said to me: 'Xavi, stop it. It has happened. There is nothing you can do about it now. This is simply what has happened. You have to accept it and move on.'"

From then on, the midfielder's mindset changed, although the rehabilitation was mentally draining above all. "The first four days were the worst of my life. I couldn't sleep. I didn't eat anything for a week. I was in so much pain, I had to vomit, I was dizzy... it was terrible. I wouldn't wish that pain on anyone," Simons says.

Now the Netherlands international is on the way back, although he is not expected to return to the pitch until the next calendar year. "I'm doing well. I'm with my family and we have worked very hard. They have been through a lot with me over the past ten weeks. I also have the support of my club, and when I see how my body is responding, I think: 'Okay, this is going in the right direction.' Every day I want to improve and that motivation is very valuable to me," he says hopefully.