Xavi Simons joins Harvard business programme during knee rehabilitation

Tottenham midfielder Xavi Simons has enrolled in Harvard’s Crossover Into Business programme while continuing his recovery from a serious knee injury, BBC Sport reported on Thursday. The 23-year-old Netherlands international is adding business studies to his time away from competitive football, with a return to playing remaining his priority.

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Simons has been sidelined since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in April, an injury that also ruled him out of the World Cup. According to the BBC, he recently travelled to the United States to advance his rehabilitation and visited Harvard’s campus during the trip. The report gave no date for his return to action.

In a LinkedIn post reported by the BBC, Simons said he wanted to make productive use of his recovery period and improve his understanding of football’s commercial side. He also expressed an interest in learning from people working in other industries, while stressing that his studies would sit alongside his efforts to get back on the pitch.

Harvard Business School describes Crossover Into Business as a semester-long programme designed for professional athletes. Each participant works with two MBA student mentors, using the school’s case-study approach to develop business knowledge. The work is adapted to athletes’ interests and schedules, with the aim of helping them make decisions both during their sporting careers and after retirement.

The school’s published timetable for the autumn 2026 edition lists an on-campus opening on September 27 and 28, followed by final presentations in late November or early December. Those dates describe the programme’s academic schedule, rather than any timetable for Simons’s recovery or availability for Tottenham.

Harvard says the initiative began with an NBA partnership in autumn 2017, involving 10 active or recently active players and 20 second-year MBA students. It subsequently expanded beyond basketball, with participants drawn from football, American football, mixed martial arts and ballet, among other fields. Its list of past participants includes Chris Bosh, Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki, placing Simons’s enrolment within an established athlete-education programme.