Wayne Meets… Xavi Simons: What It’s REALLY Like Being a Wonderkid

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1:06Discover the V-Series lineup at cadillac.com. And for me, it was like more, I just want to play football. That is the part that you have to do. I got death threats in me, parents' house, I was getting spray painted in. Because he was there, Verratti and other guys, Tiago Silva, Marquinhos, Mbappé, Neymar. What was that like walking in the first day? He actually went to jail. And I was a young boy, he was 47, so I used to write to him in jail. And then he'd write back. What were the letters saying? What were you... It was just me saying and telling him how much I love him, basically.

1:47Well, we are all back together again. And before we go any further, Ken, I'm going to let you set the scene because you're pretty excited about where we are. Honestly, I was saying if they offer all-inclusive packages, I'd sign up for it because this place is amazing. It's like an airport lounge, like a really expensive airport lounge. This bit looks like the Big Brother house, but out there is just incredible. I'd sign for Spurs if they're... So you've only owned them expensive lounges, yeah? I've been there once or twice. I'm sure you're no stranger to them as well. Well, you did mention it then.

2:19We are at Tottenham Hotspur's training ground. We're joined by a very special guest. Xavi Simons, thank you for being on the Wayne Rooney Show with us. Welcome along. How has it been settling into life in England so far? Thank you. Thank you very much. It's a pleasure to be here, for sure, for me. And, yeah, at the end, coming to a new country, new club, new environment. It's special, but at the same time, you know, you have said that, but really fast because the games are coming fast. And, yeah, I try to enjoy these little moments, I would say. Are you enjoying the training ground as much as Kay is?

2:54Is it as nice as the other bits as well? Yeah, I told them before already, I didn't see even the half of the training ground yet. And that's how big the training ground is. And yeah, it's really, really special to come here every day and enjoy to be here. And then seeing all the stuff and to try to do your best. I think the bill for the gardener must be so expensive. Yeah, I think so. The landscape and the flowers and everything. It's incredible. We used to come here with England. I think you've been with England. I've been, but I went to the wrong bit because we're never allowed in this posh bit.

3:26We're kind of in the media bit over there. You've been in this bit, I'm guessing. No, I haven't. Even you're not allowed in this bit. No, because we just got on the training ground over there, I think. It was, yeah. I think we were on the other side of the road, yeah. It's a nice training ground though, isn't it? Did you always think that when you came here? Yeah, it's good. This is the best group. We trained here. We trained at Arsenal as well, and this was by far the best one. It's nice, isn't it? It makes up for the bad weather, doesn't it? that's true it's a bad weather day today isn't it it's not looking it's finest out there but the training ground looking great we're fascinated by your journey Javi because we were talking just before we started recording we were asking you where you call home because you've lived and played in so many different countries haven't you yeah at the end I'm lucky to to be 22 and to live yeah already a lot of a lot of things that maybe other players never never experienced that I was born in Holland but when I was three years old my mom decided to go to Spain and then from Spain when I was six years old Barcelona scouted me and then from there on until 16 I was in Barcelona then three years in Paris one year back to my country that was in Eindel then three two years in Leipzig and now and now here.

4:42But I would say, like in every place, I took a little bit something. But at the end, the years where I grew up more and I've been there more was Barcelona. My family is still living there. So I would say, yeah, the connection with Barcelona, Holland, that's the two parts. You said you took something from every place you were. What have you taken from, what are the main things you've taken from each country? I think from everything in general to adapt to the culture of the country. I'm someone, I'm going to a new environment. I know to adapt as quick as possible. I need to adapt to the people that are there.

5:22So I need to try to understand them and try to understand the situation I'm going into. So I would say that in the end is the most important thing. And obviously speaking the language is one of the main priorities, I would say. How many languages do you speak? I speak five languages. Five languages. And most of them I've learned in school, like English, Spanish, I learned in school. Then I went to a French, French, sorry. And I learned listening and talking with my teammates, not going to school, but just being every day with them and speaking, even knowing that I was not speaking that good at the start.

6:02And they tried to help me a little bit, like, okay, no, this world's like this, this world's like this. And at the end, nowadays, I speak French fluently. What was it like for you being at Barcelona at that time? Because you were literally surrounded by superstars, watching superstars everywhere you went. Yeah, for me, that was my dream. Like, my name is Xavi because of Xavi Hernandez. My mom, she put the name because of him. and being there for me was, yeah, was the dream. And being there, living and seeing all these players, Messi, Niesta, Xavi, Nantes, and seeing them every day. I saw them a lot of times in the training ground and that was like a big inspiration for me as well.

6:53Yeah, to see these kind of players was such incredible. Did anybody sort of take you under their wing and give you advice? So in the start, not because I was really young, but after when I started growing up and I was getting close to the first team, Neymar was there. Okay. And I did a commercial, I remember, when I was 12 years old with him. And at that time, Neymar for me was, wow, this is my idol. Like I was always watching on YouTube, like Neymar's skills, how do they do these skills? and one day I did a commercial with him and I remember going home back and I sit down with my mom and my brother and I said to my mom, okay, one day I will play with this guy.

7:34I need to play, like 100%, I need to play with my idol. And then I remember my brother, he was laughing at me, he said, yeah, Charlie, come on, come on. So, yeah, Neymar was the one like, and after obviously he went to PSG, I was really sad for one day when he left Barca to go to PSG but yeah and then one year later I joined PSG and I luckily yeah made this dream come true as well they say never meet your heroes what was it like meeting him was he everything you hoped he'd be yeah I was 12 years old when I meet him for the first time and you can imagine like for me was my eyes were like this like wow I touched him a little bit you know so for me at that time like I go fuck yeah this was the dream and then yeah at 16 playing with him was an amazing thing.

8:25Wayne who was your idol when you were kind of growing up? Not so much as Neymar but mine was more Duncan Ferguson. He was a guy who played for Everton.

8:43and he actually went to jail and I was a young boy who supports everything so I used to write to him in jail and then he'd write back so I was the same somewhere like 12 something like that and then four years later I played alongside him so for me that was like yeah letters what were the letters saying what were you it was just me saying them telling them how much I love them Basically. Week after week. What was he saying back? Well, thanks for it means a lot. Obviously when you're in jail as well, you take anything in. So when you actually met him, did you tell him I was the one writing the letters?

9:19Yeah. And then, because I was too young to drive as well, so he'd take me home from training. My family were all massive Hermitonians. And so Duncan Ferguson would take me home to my mum's house. Oh wow. And like, your dad's out the window and stuff like that. But yeah, so that was surreal. But I think there's so many. And like Ronaldo, Arnane, for me as well, just watching him play was incredible. He was like my favourite player, really. You mentioned there your dad, and it sounds like your family as well wanted you to go to Barcelona, and that was a big thing for them. What did they make of this when you got this dream move that you'd wanted?

9:59Yeah, I remember when I was six, my mom, she came to me one day, she said to me like, Chavi, we need to go to Barcelona to a friend of mine, she's working there, so we need to be there. And yeah, just two days off. But she didn't tell me like Barcelona scouted me, like Barcelona wanted me to train there and to be there. So I was just thinking like, mom, I want to be here with my friends and my neighbor, I don't want to go to Barcelona. She said, come on, come on. And then we went. And then I remember we were in the car. She said, okay, we need to go to the supermarket. So we were driving. And then suddenly I saw the big logo of Barcelona.

10:38And I was asking, like, what are we doing? And she said, like, yeah, I'm surprised you can train with Barcelona. They call it. Just enjoy yourself. And then I remember, like, she bring me to the door. And for me, like, was switching it up. And, yeah, for them was a dream as well. That must have been incredible. So is it similar for you on your first day at Everton? Yeah, but obviously I lived like five minutes, five minutes after the training ground, so we weren't so much of a surprise like that. But we went to the New Camp with the school on a visit. And I was about, I think it was my first year in senior school, so I was about 11.

11:19And we went, I remember we went outside the training ground and I don't know if you remember Ruth Hesp Okay Goalkeeper He was all around his car and he's thrown off and he's thrown over my foot When we were young That was like my claim to fame when I was younger Ruth Hesp and he's thrown over my foot but I can't imagine to keep I couldn't do that with my kids as a surprise I'd be too excited I'd have to tell them She was more excited than me but Yeah she's done well Were you happy she didn't tell you and kept it a surprise? Yeah Makes a better story Yeah Yeah, now, yeah, if I think like this, now, yes.

11:54Because, like, at that age, it might be a bit too much pressure, do you think? Or do you think you've learned to deal with that pressure from a young age? Oof. Yeah, I think at the end, at that time, I wouldn't feel the pressure, I would say, because I have an older brother and I've always been, like, together with him and always playing with his friends. And that was more, like, kind of pressure to play with the friends of my brother, enjoying that, you know. But, yeah, growing up and being on the spotlight of that so young age, obviously the pressure is there. But I think with the years, I took really advantage of it and knew how to deal with it.

12:37But it was hard, obviously. You two have got a lot in common, I suppose, in terms of being young superstars, players that kind of made a big name for themselves and had everyone talking about you at such a young age. You've spoken about it before, Wayne. and it brings huge pressure, even if you didn't maybe always feel it, because you seem to be able to brush it off. Yeah, it does. And I think for me, for Xavi now, the difference is social media. When I was young, I was in the local newspapers, and so it was everyone in Liverpool really knew me. So I have it now with my boy who's 16, and he's on social media.

13:11He plays for Man United. He's sponsored by Puma. And, you know, there's hundreds of thousands or millions of people who were watching them when they were that young and I didn't have that really but being a young player and going into the first team especially you're getting judged and rightly or wrongly you get judged and you that's where you need the people around the club or your family to try and keep you in a good place because we can all get carried away with social media as well so I think it's really important and the 10 people who are close to you. I've got your best interest to have.

13:52It's the main thing. Because isn't it right, you had around 2 million followers before you'd even made your professional debut. So there was a lot of people interested in you before you'd kind of even really made a name for yourself on the pitch. Yeah, I see what Wayne's saying. Nowadays it's more like kind of normal. But at my time when I was, I remember I was 12, 13, I had already 2 million followers. I remember at that time was not normal and social media was coming up. And at that time, I think, yeah, maybe the club where I was or the environment where I was was as well something new for them, like a young guy of 12, 13 years old having two million followers as more than one guy of the first team.

14:34Like, how are we going to deal with it? How is it going to be for him in his head? And I think at that time was really hard for everyone because they were we were looking into like okay how yeah how we're gonna deal with it in a positive way and at the end at the end was more my mom me and my brother together like okay how we can manage it on a positive way even though people maybe see it and in a negative way or always judging and that's the social media part and yeah i was more there like okay i'm here my own with my family and we have to protect ourselves and we have to find a way to do certain things.

15:14At that age, did you get someone to manage your social media for you? Because I can imagine 2 million followers for a grown adult like myself would be too much to deal with. So for a 13-year-old to have access to that many people, did you go, I can't deal with this and get somebody else to manage it? Or were you on there reading the comments? It's funny because at the start I remember of Instagram, for example, My brother had more followers than me and he was always saying, you know, I have more followers than you. And suddenly I remember one day he came home and he said, Charlie, look at Instagram, you're getting followers.

15:49And I was like scrolling and every time, every second more followers. And more followers like this. What was happening? Because I played a tournament in Miami and we won and I was best player. So it was on the television and people were seeing and like this it went. And I remember he saying, no, now it's impossible. I never catch you again. But at that time, I arrived at a certain point that my mom said, okay, you cannot handle this. And even my mom, she said, I cannot handle this. I don't know how to do social media. I don't know how to do certain things. So at that time, my mom and my brother, they looked into certain persons to try to help me.

16:29And that happened. I had a team. I was 13 years old, and I already had my team to try to help me on a positive way to manage it. But at the same time, you have the negative way that people may be seeing like, okay, this 13 years old, what does he think? He has already a social media team and people posting for him. But it was more like my mom trying to protect me and trying to help me in a positive way. Actually, I didn't have a problem with social media, this out but I'm more on doing your mum's role now with my son so and and sometimes it's not fair as well because you want you want I said this to my boy I say I want him to be a kid I want him to enjoy his time being a kid but then you have to try and restrict it as well because as you said it's hard to deal with that many people knowing knowing what you're doing and how you're doing it If I'm honest with what you're saying, I feel like I've lost a certain way of my youth.

17:42Like normal kids from 13 years old, 12 years old can go to the streets playing with his friends. I remember that time I couldn't go on the streets to play because I know kids knew me. And they said, Javi, please a picture, Javi, autograph. And everyone was coming. And for me, it was like more, I just want to play football. I don't want to be an influencer or a TikToker. I just want to play football. And that is the part that you have to do. But it's hard for a kid to understand that. You don't understand why and stuff. So I suppose that's the price you pay when you go into that world and you're very popular.

18:22So it sounds like that kind of changed for you overnight. Mike, what was that like for you, not only with social media, but after that tournament in Miami? Did you feel kind of a change around you, not just online? That was a point that I felt like, okay, it starts now. That's the way I felt it. As well, my brother, I remember coming back from the tournament, he said, okay, now you're going to have a lot of people watching you and please stay calm if you have a problem. It was not more about the football side, but it was more about the mental side that he was saying to me, Chavi, please, if you have a problem, tell me, call me and say to me, okay, I'm not happy or I'm not, you know, a certain situation that can happen.

19:13I remember playing games and me losing and I remember kids coming to the pitch and Chavi, please, a picture. And I was 14. I was saying, no, no, I lost the game. No, no. I remember coming home and my brother was saying like, you know these people are coming here just to see you try to to yeah make a little smile and take a picture and but that was the thing like at 40 years old my family's tried to help me and you have to grow up quickly don't you yeah i feel that way as well like and i when i talk with my friends as well i just say like i felt like i i needed to grow earlier than an expected age like 30 40 years There's a young lad at Manchester United who sounds very similar, JJ.

19:53Gabriel. And I think he's got millions of followers and he's in the same team as my boy. And so I've watched him grow up and develop and he's a fantastic player. He's got such a bright future. But the same with social media and stuff. So I'd imagine he being very similar. But even yourself, you probably have to grow up really quickly as well. Because you, I know there's probably... But you know there's rules against it now, but you were probably in a changing room with grown men. Yeah, you were, yeah, and back then you just get on with it. Where now, when I was coaching, when we have a 16-year-old playing, in which we had, you obviously go through all the safeguarding and stuff, and you have to sign, obviously, when you go to an away game, you have to sign as the guardian, basically.

20:41and take the leash off your laptop with the processor that gives you long battery life work on the go jump between back-to-back calls stay locked in from brewing morning coffee to burning the midnight oil get maximum performance even when unplugged finally the freedom to move across the room or across the world is here snapdragon that's how So yeah, it's a big difference now to what it was then, yeah.

21:23Would you have wanted to have grown up with the social media area? Are you quite glad you didn't in a way? Savvy's laughing. Yeah, you probably would. You probably would. Obviously, I'm on social media now, but I had to get to it. Well, I was in the first team. I was playing for Manchester United and then I had to get someone to manage my social media because I couldn't deal with it then when I was in the first team so I was like 24 playing at probably my highest level I played at and I put some weird tweets on after the night out or something I put some man tweets on Kay loves your old tweets so I had to get someone to manage it and change the password so yeah it must have been so surreal I'm just taking you back to that period when you were like 12 because all of a sudden you were thrust into the spotlight and there were other clubs looking at you as well, weren't there?

22:16Is it true that Chelsea tried to sign you around them? Yeah, I remember like, yeah, obviously, yeah, they had interest and other clubs as well. But I remember my dream was always Barcelona and that was my plan at the time. And yeah, obviously, it's nice that clubs call you and try to show your interest. But I think at that time I didn't need to move on. So you didn't have any big moments? You had your parents being rung by Sir Alex Ferguson, didn't you? Yes. Again, I wanted to play for Everton. So there was no way. It's not quite Barcelona, but there was no way I was going to leave before I played for Everton.

22:58What was it like on a football pitch for you from then on then? Because we can talk about the online, but all of a sudden everyone must have been watching you and waiting for you to do something in every game. Did it feel like that? Yeah, but if I'm quite honest, until now, I'm still the guy, like, when I step into the pitch, I just enjoy being on the pitch. Like, I'm not thinking what are people going to say or what are people going to think about me. Just until now, even playing in front of 80 ,000 people, like, when you're on the pitch, you're so focused that you don't see no one, you know.

23:32And that time was that as well, like, kind of same. Is that something that all really, because you've kind of alluded to that before? Yeah, that's your home, that's where you're comfortable. That's where you, when you go on the pitch, whatever is happening off the pitch, good or bad, that's where you feel at home and you want to be all the time. I used to always think that when you're playing, it's like playing underwater. And you know that the fans are there, you know there's noise, but it was actually like playing underwater and you couldn't really take everything in what was getting said. but when you score a goal, it's like you come up for a breath and then you start hearing everything and stuff.

24:09So on the football pitch, that's the safest and best place you can be, for sure. Is that the same for you? Yeah, it's the same. Safe place, I would say. Okay, so you were at Barcelona until you were 16, is that right? What was that like leaving Barcelona? Yeah, at that time it was hard, but I think it was the best decision I could take at the time. But yeah, it's life. I needed to move on. I felt at that time I needed something different. I needed to develop at that time on the highest level of the youth teams. And PSG offered me that and offered me as well the progress to get into the first team and try to develop as a youth player.

24:58But I'm not going to lie, it was hard. because, yeah, I'm a Barca fan. I grew up in Barcelona and maybe at that time people didn't understand it. And what Wayne said before, the social media nowadays is judgment. You know, even people don't know your own story. But it was hard, yeah. It must be hard because I suppose it's the same for you when you had to leave your boyhood club. You were an Everton fan and then leaving to know you need to do it for the next stage of your career. Yeah, I think that's where you have to mentally be strong and gain the people around you. You have to help. I got death threats in my parents' house, it was getting spray painted in.

25:40Smashed up my girlfriend at the time, my wife now. Their parents' house was getting spray painted in. And then I think more so leaving was difficult, but because I went to Manchester United and Liverpool and Manchester, there's a big rivalry. So that made it a lot more difficult. but you know I was always with a mindset that I don't care. I knew what I wanted and knew how what I needed to do to get there and so I had to stay tough in my mind and say right if people want to and this is my people from my city. So it was tough and but then I thought I don't care I need to make it. You have to be selfish in decisions.

26:21For me it's the same like how he's explaining it as well. like at the end in your mind you have to be so so hard and I don't know how old you were there but I was 16 at the time but the social media at the time was as well like big big and um yeah they had a big impact you know but I remember when I signed after that um yeah I sit down and I was looking like all the you know all the messages and and it's hard but at the time I was like okay I don't care, I will make it. I take this decision and I know where I want to go and turn a vision and that's it. What was it like when you got to PSG? I think that was the start of, really, that was the start of my professional journey.

27:08And I was 16 years old. I was the first six months on the 19th. I played youth league and after that I get promoted to the first team. So I was 16 already, 16, 17. I was with the big, big, big players there. So you gave yourself a challenge there. Yeah, but I remember... Was Messi there as well? Yeah, no, no, Messi was not there. I remember the first week when I was there, I trained, you know, the first time with the first team. And then I come back home, I say to my mum, I have to go to the gym, I have to train more, you know? Because who was there? Verratti and... All the guys, only Messi, no.