Xavi Simons has ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and will be out for around eight months. The Tottenham midfielder suffered the injury in his team’s 1-0 win at Wolves on Saturday and will be unavailable for the remainder of the club’s Premier League survival fight. His devastation has been compounded by the knowledge that he will not be able to play for the Netherlands at the World Cup finals this summer.

Simons was stretchered off at Molineux in the 63rd minute after twisting his knee in the turf as he chased a ball towards the byline. It is a terrible blow for him and the club, whose new manager, Roberto De Zerbi, was counting on the 23-year-old’s creativity in the battle against relegation. Despite the victory over Wolves, which was Spurs’ first in 16 league games, they remain 18th in the table, two points behind 17th-placed West Ham with four matches to play.

De Zerbi was without nine players because of injury at Wolves while he also lost striker Dominic Solanke during the game to a muscle injury. Spurs are next in action at Aston Villa on Sunday.

Simons uploaded an emotional message to his Instagram account. “They say life can be cruel and today it feels that way,” he said. “My season has come to an abrupt end and I’m just trying to process it. Honestly, I’m heartbroken. None of it makes sense. All I’ve wanted to do is fight for my team and now the ability to do that has been snatched away from me, along with the World Cup.”