Most footballers who tear an ACL face months of repetitive rehab and a lot of waiting. Xavi Simons has decided to put that waiting time to use.
The Tottenham forward has been accepted to study at Harvard Business School. He announced it himself on LinkedIn, with a short line: “I’m going back to school.”
A blow, and a decision
The timing was cruel. Simons ruptured his ACL in April, an injury that cost him a place at the 2026 World Cup with the Netherlands. He is expected to stay sidelined until the new year, and he has yet to appear for Tottenham this season.
A long layoff is the kind of period in which a young player can lose momentum. Simons, 23, chose a different approach, which he explained in his own words: he has been trying to use his recovery time in the best way possible.
What the programme is
The course is Harvard Business School’s Crossover Into Business. It is worth being precise about what it is, because it isn’t a full-time MBA. It is an online programme in which professional athletes learn about business alongside HBS MBA students. The class lasts a semester and covers global industries. It pairs athletes with MBA students to work through practical case studies and enterprise management.
So Simons can study from wherever his rehabilitation takes him, which matters for a player whose days are built around treatment schedules.
A familiar face at Harvard
The connection is not random. Simons first met Professor Anita Elberse in his youth days at Barcelona, and they stayed in contact after he moved to Paris Saint-Germain. It suggests this interest in business has been growing for years rather than appearing in a quiet moment.
He also joins a short list of footballers who have gone this route. Two Spanish Chelsea greats, Cesar Azpilicueta and Juan Mata, studied at Harvard before him.
Rehab in America
Simons has spent part of his recovery in the United States. He travelled there to work with specialists. In Boston, he spent time with the Boston Celtics and the Boston Bruins. He also visited Harvard’s campus and surprised members of the Boston Spurs supporters club.
Football still comes first
Simons was clear that this is not a change of career. His message said that getting back on the pitch is still his number one priority, but he wants to keep learning and invest in himself beyond football.
That balance is sensible. His recovery is reportedly going well, and he is hoped to be back in contention for Roberto De Zerbi’s side at the early end of the expected return window. A football career is short, and the commercial side of the game, from contracts to brand deals, rewards players who understand it.
The bigger picture
Simons has been a public figure since he was a teenager, with a huge social-media following and sponsorship deals from a young age. Many players in that position hand their business affairs to others. Choosing to study the subject is a different kind of preparation.
An ACL injury is something no player wants. But a player who returns to the pitch in the new year having also spent months studying business alongside MBA students will have turned a bad stretch into something useful.
Note: this article is based on reports published on October 8-9, 2026, including Simons’s own LinkedIn post as quoted in the media. Details such as his return date are estimates and may change.
