There is reportedly some infighting at the boardroom level at Bayern Munich after they lost a transfer race to Tottenham last summer.
Xavi Simons has had a harsh introduction to the Premier League since his £51m move from RB Leipzig late in the summer transfer window.
However, the attacking midfielder now finally appears to have turned a corner. Xavi has come in for plenty of praise from Thomas Frank after two back-to-back Man of the Match performances against Brentford and Slavia Prague.
The Dutchman admitted that he wants to live up to the legacy of Heung-min Son’s number seven shirt, but there will be a lot of consternation at one European club if he does achieve that.
Senior Bayern Munich figure was keen to beat Tottenham to Xavi Simons
It has now been revealed by SportBILD (as relayed by Sport Witness) that Bayern Munich director of football Max Eberl was very keen on taking Xavi to the Allianz Arena in the summer.
However, Eberl was eventually overruled in the Bayern hierarchy, which allowed the Lilywhites to swoop for the 22-year-old.
This led to ‘serious clashes’ at the German club, with Eberl going head-to-head with others in the Bayern leadership over the Netherlands international.
The Bayern director was not a happy man when Xavi signed for Spurs and butted heads with Bayern supremos such as Herbert Hainer, Uli Hoeness, and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge over passing up on the attacking midfielder.
Xavi’s return to form serves as a valuable lesson for Spurs fans
It appears that football fans and the footballing media never quite learn their lessons despite watching the same thing over and over again.
Many Premier League imports, including the likes of Luka Modric, Jan Vertonghen and Heung-min Son at Tottenham, did not hit the ground running in England but went on to become world-class players.
To write Xavi off prematurely was always a mistake. However, to his credit, Thomas Frank continued to maintain that Xavi will be a formidable player when he finds his feet, and the Spurs head coach is now seemingly being proven correct.
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