Xavi Simons aims to build own legacy after Son Heung-min’s Tottenham farewell

Xavi Simons was happy to mark the return of Son Heung-min with another goal and hopes to build his own legacy in the Tottenham number seven shirt.

Netherlands attacker Xavi followed up Saturday’s stand-out display against Brentford with another influential performance in a 3-0 win over Slavia Prague on Tuesday.

The £52million playmaker converted a late spot-kick to make it back-to-back goals on a night which saw club great Son finally wave goodbye to the Tottenham faithful after a decade of service.

“It is really nice to score the goals, but feeling great on the pitch, that is the most important for me and I’m enjoying it. So, really happy to be in this moment,” Xavi said.

“I didn’t meet Son (before) personally and now a little bit. He is a big legend for the club and it’s a real pleasure for me to take this number and build my own legacy, so really happy to meet him.”

Son scored 173 goals in 454 appearances for Spurs, with his final competitive appearance in the historic Europa League triumph over Manchester United on May 21.

The South Korea captain paraded the trophy around the club’s stadium days after victory in Bilbao, but left Tottenham in pre-season to sign for Los Angeles FC and did not have the chance to say goodbye to the fanbase until Tuesday.

An emotional day started with Son’s mural being unveiled on the High Road before he addressed the 47,281 crowd and promised, ‘I will always be Spurs’.

Speaking to Korean media afterwards, he said: “First of all, I’m happy to be back in a place where I spent my youth and is like a home.

“I’m so grateful that so many fans welcomed me and cheered for me. It was a little hard (on Monday) because the flight time was longer than I thought, but I had a really happy day. Thank you so much.”

Son’s best friend Ben Davies revealed the former Tottenham captain was emotional about his picture being painted on a wall outside the stadium.

“I didn’t see it (yet), but I saw the pictures and it looks really good. I think he was very emotional and it meant a lot to him to have his stamp on the area,” left-back Davies said.

“It was really nice to see him. We stay in touch all the time, so it wasn’t such a novelty for me, but great for the club and all the fans to have a good send-off for him.”

Mathys Tel, who was only drafted into Spurs’ Champions League squad this week as an injury replacement for Dominic Solanke, was delighted to see Son.

Tel added: “Sonny is like my big brother. He is always texting me, his support is always behind me, so back in the Champions League, we won and Sonny was there… a lot of good things.

“Sonny is a big legend at Tottenham, so when a guy like Sonny comes after he did everything, you give everything for him.”