Thomas Frank confident Xavi Simons is ‘taking steps forward’ with Tottenham

Thomas Frank is confident Tottenham’s £52million attacker Xavi Simons will be a success ahead of Saturday’s visit of Chelsea.

Xavi was expected to join Chelsea this summer but the Blues’ failure to offload key players allowed London rivals Spurs to perform a hijack at the end of August.

The excitement at the arrival of the former Barcelona and Paris St Germain youngster has not translated onto the pitch with only one assist so far, but Frank leapt to his defence and insisted it is not only down to the 22-year-old to make Tottenham more eye-catching.

Frank said: “It’s probably too much to put everything on Xavi in terms of when he’s clicking then the team is just free-floating. When this team was clicking well in the last two seasons it definitely involved, most likely, (James) Maddison, (Dejan) Kulusevski and Son (Heung-min) at the same time.

“So that’s why it cannot be on one player. In my opinion it needs to be on three to four to get the team clicking, but I also understand that there are some players who need to add more to get the team free-floating and Xavi is definitely one of the players that needs to do that.

“I think the game against Newcastle he found some good positions and had some good actions. He’s getting into the right areas and now it’s just the last decisive pass and action that can make the difference.

“I think his fitness is growing, his intensity is growing. He’s come to a league which plays with high intensity and I’m asking him to work harder.

“That’s three things he needs to tick. Then he comes into our team where we are finding our way together. That’s also taking a bit of time but I’m sitting down with him, I’m evaluating him and I think he is taking steps forward.

“I’m not in doubt that Xavi will perform very well for us. That is down to him, to me, to the team, to everyone to get it done. The one thing you don’t have in football is time, but it will take time.

“It’s completely natural. Sometimes we can’t talk about processes and time and all that, but the reality is everyone needs it. I’m confident. I’m sure it will happen.”

The creative onus on Xavi has been exasperated by long-term injuries to Maddison and Kulusevski.

Frank admitted he was unsure if Maddison would play again this season after surgery on his ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in August.

Chelsea also have injury issues, but Enzo Maresca has the luxury of a large squad after heavy investment in recent seasons.

Nevertheless, Frank insisted: “It’s always about outperforming what you have to work with.

“It’s up to us to try to shorten that distance as much as possible. The more money you use on the squad, the better the chance of success, but it’s not 100 per cent sure.

“Can we nail the culture, the way we want to play, how we develop the players and the team, make even more togetherness? Then we’ll be able to get a little bit closer.”