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Wayne Rooney Meets Xavi Simons
Wayne, Kelly Somers and Kae Kurd head to Tottenham’s training ground for an in-depth conversation with Tottenham’s 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’s moves from the Netherlands to Barcelona, Paris, Leipzig and London. Xavi explains how he felt about leaving Barça for PSG at 16 and what it was like walking into a dressing room with Kylian Mbappé, 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’s 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’d 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’s goalkeeper accidentally drove over his foot as a kid.
You can watch The Wayne Rooney Show on BBC Sport YouTube, iPlayer, as well as listen on BBC Sounds.
Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:21 Meet Xavi Simons
02:51 Xavi’s Football Journey
04:43 Speaking Five Languages
05:02 Growing Up at Barcelona
06:23 Neymar: From Idol to Teammate
07:22 Wayne’s Childhood Idol Story
11:36 Pressure of Being a Young Star
13:05 Two Million Followers at 13
16:29 Losing Childhood Freedom
20:30 Chelsea Tried to Sign Him?
22:48 Leaving Barcelona
25:07 Life at PSG
27:00 Wayne’s England Debut Story
29:01 Neymar’s Support
30:26 Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Influence
33:34 Xavi’s Winning Mentality
37:11 Why Spurs?
41:13 The Haircut Story
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Wayne Meets…Xavi Simons: What It’s REALLY Like Being a Wonderkid | The Wayne Rooney Show | Ep 31
