Xavi Simons gets football's ultimate humiliation as Tottenham's £52m summer signing's struggles continue against Chelsea

Xavi Simons hit a new low when he was brought on and later substituted by Thomas Frank during Tottenham's Premier League defeat against Chelsea.

The £52 million summer signing began the match on the bench against their London rivals but was introduced as a concussion substitute after Lucas Bergvall sustained a head injury in the opening minutes.

With Spurs trailing, Simons on a yellow card and struggling to find his rhythm, Frank decided he had seen enough. The Spurs manager replaced the 22-year-old with Wilson Odobert in the 73rd minute.

Simons trudged off, visibly dejected as he watched his side fail to mount a comeback against a team that has now beaten Tottenham in their last five consecutive meetings. Joao Pedro's 34th-minute goal was enough to seal all three points for Enzo Maresca's side at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Much like Liverpool’s £116 million signing Florian Wirtz, Simons has struggled to make the leap from the Bundesliga to the Premier League this season. Neither of the 22-year-olds has scored for their respective clubs since arriving in the summer.

'It's a very good comparison,' said Frank, ahead of Spurs' Champions League tie in Monaco last Wednesday. 'Wirtz, also a very good player, just like Xavi coming into a new country, new club, new city, (they) just need to settle.

'We are all getting judged every game, but we also need to see the bigger perspective. I look for glimpses and with Xavi I asked him to arrive more in the box and when I looked back at the (Villa) game, he did. Was there a big eye-catching moment? No, but there were glimpses so it's going a little bit in the right direction.'

Simons has played over 500 minutes in all competitions for Spurs and is yet to score. He has registered one assist, on his debut at West Ham when one of his corners was headed in by Pape Matar Sarr.