Xavi Simons begins Harvard business course during Tottenham injury recovery

Tottenham midfielder Xavi Simons has begun a Harvard Business School course while recovering from a serious knee injury, the club said on 8 October 2026. The Netherlands international is studying business through a programme designed for professional athletes as he works towards a return to football.

The course is called Crossover Into Business. Tottenham says Simons has been accepted and has started his studies. BBC Sport also reported his enrolment on Thursday, describing the move as a way for the 23-year-old to use time during his rehabilitation.

What Xavi Simons will study at Harvard Business School

Harvard Business School describes Crossover Into Business as a semester-long programme that pairs professional athletes with MBA student mentors. Its purpose, according to the school, is to help players develop business knowledge and prepare for decisions they may face during and after their sporting careers.

Each athlete works with a pair of MBA students, Harvard says. The mentors use the school’s case method, which centres on discussing practical business situations, and tailor the work to an athlete’s interests and schedule. Tottenham describes Simons’s course as online, allowing him to study around his recovery programme.

Simons explained his decision in a statement on his LinkedIn page reproduced by Tottenham. ‘During my recovery, I’ve been trying to use my time in the best way possible,’ he said. ‘Football is still my main focus, but I also want to keep learning and improving away from the pitch.’

He said he wanted to understand the business side of football better and learn from people in other industries. The course gives him a structured way to pursue those interests through Harvard’s athlete and MBA mentor programme. His enrolment establishes what he is studying; it does not establish a later business venture or career plan.

How the course fits around Simons’s injury recovery

BBC Sport says Simons ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in April and that the injury forced him to miss the World Cup. He has remained sidelined while undergoing rehabilitation. His course announcement is a development in how he is spending that time, rather than an update on his fitness for a match.

Tottenham says Simons recently travelled to the United States to continue his rehabilitation. During the trip, the club says, he met athletes from American sports and visited members of its Boston supporters’ club. Simons said he also visited Harvard while in Boston and met professor Anita Elberse, whom he had known from earlier periods at Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain.

In his statement, Simons said his recent time on the United States’ East and West Coasts had exposed him to different ways of working. He linked that experience to his interest in learning beyond football, while making clear that his immediate sporting aim remained central: ‘Getting back on the pitch is still my number one priority.’

Neither Tottenham’s announcement nor BBC Sport’s report gives a date for Simons’s return to competitive football. The club describes the course as something he can undertake during rehabilitation, and neither source says it changes his medical recovery programme.

Why Harvard offers a course for professional athletes

Crossover Into Business is aimed specifically at professional athletes, according to Harvard Business School. The school says the pairing with MBA students is intended to fit participants’ busy lives while giving them business knowledge relevant both to their playing years and to life after sport. That design explains why an active Tottenham player can join while continuing an injury recovery schedule.