One of January’s most prominent transfer sagas concluded on deadline day, as Bayern Munich attacker Mathys Tel (£6.0m) eventually agreed to become a Tottenham Hotspur player.
After initially rejecting the north London side, Tel was linked with Premier League rivals Manchester United, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Chelsea.
However, a late chat with Ange Postecoglou convinced him to join on a six-month loan with an option to buy permanently for €60m. Perhaps Harry Kane and Eric Dier snuck in a quick word too.
So will the 19-year-old immediately start and what impact will he have in Fantasy Premier League (FPL)?
We’ll take a look during this Scout Report piece, including data and images from our Premium Members Area.
HISTORY
Having joined Rennes’ youth team in 2020, Tel soon fast-tracked his way into becoming their youngest-ever first-teamer, aged 16 years and 110 days. From a club known for recently producing Eduardo Camavinga, Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue, this quickly made some noise.
He even featured for a couple of minutes against Spurs in the 2021/22 Europa Conference League. And by that summer, Tel had captained France Under-17s to victory in the UEFA European Championship.
Bayern Munich, seeing a bright future right in front of them, decided to spend €28.5m on him.
| STARTS (SUB) | GOALS | ASSISTS | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024/25 | Bayern Munich | Bundesliga | 2 (6) | 0 | 1 |
| 2023/24 | Bayern Munich | Bundesliga | 6 (24) | 7 | 5 |
| 2022/23 | Bayern Munich | Bundesliga | 1 (21) | 5 | 0 |
Tel soon became their youngest scorer by netting in a DFB-Pokal win over Viktoria Koln, following it up with a left-footed strike 10 days later against Stuttgart in the Bundesliga.
Arguably his breakthrough campaign was 2023/24 under Thomas Tuchel, which began with three goals in the first five league matches, all from the bench. In between was a stoppage-time Champions League winner against Man United – also a cameo.
These are fine examples of Tel’s constant problem at Bayern – game time. Three of last season’s six league starts came right at the end, once all title hopes were extinguished. Whereas he’s featured even less since Vincent Kompany took charge, being limited to two Bundesliga lineups and just 458 minutes in all competitions. No wonder he’s goalless.
While Tel has, until recently, been determined to stay and develop in Munich, the summer addition of Michael Olise to an already-stacked collection of Kane, Jamal Musiala, Kingsley Coman, Leroy Sane, Serge Gnabry and Thomas Muller forced a change of heart.
He leaves with 16 goals and seven assists from 83 appearances, where just 16 were starts.
PLAYING STYLE
“I’m somewhere between a number nine and a left winger. I can also play on the right, but I’m more comfortable as a striker and on the left.” – Mathys Tel, interviewed in 2023
Versatility is ideal for managers but maybe the uncertainty over whether Tel should play centrally or on the inside-left is also holding back his progress.
The presence of Kane means he’s featured more on the left. But German reporter Florian Plettenberg is one of several names insisting Tel is a centre-forward.
“This is a very good solution for Tel, Tottenham and Bayern. He has reconsidered his decision. He was in talks with Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham. I’m convinced that in the end Spurs have presented the best project in order to get match practice. This is the most important for Tel.
“Now it’s up to Postecoglou to place him in the right position. He’s not a winger, he’s a striker. Let him strike, let him score goals!” – Florian Plettenberg speaking to Sky Sports News
That’s why it’s interesting that the Bundesliga website compares his style to Kylian Mbappe – someone who arrived in Madrid as a left-sided forward but has adapted well to being a striker.
An energetic 6ft 0in attacker, Tel is known for his explosive pace, one-on-one dribbling and good finishing skills. He’s decent in the air too.
But as you’d expect, some weaknesses need fixing with regular minutes. The Frenchman’s hold-up play must improve, as should his decision-making. For instance, Tel can be a bit predictable when dribbling from a standstill position because he almost always cuts inside and shoots, whether it’s the right decision or not. During the 2023/24 Bundesliga, his attempts had a low average expected goals (xG) tally of 0.09.
“You can see that he wants to score goals – that’s a great quality. Thinking back to when Arjen Robben was playing, we used to think he should have been looking for the pass, but he was so focused on scoring and he scored a lot. Mathys should keep doing his thing: firing shots in on goal. He’s a superb finisher.” – Bayern Munich’s Thomas Müller
If he learns to mix up his repertoire, he’ll be a very good player with the potential to become world-class.
“He’s a very young, talented player who can play different positions. He’s very quick, strong with his body. He’s good at defending the ball with his back towards the opponent’s goal… I have the vision that he could score 40 goals [in a season] one day in the future.” – former Bayern Munich head coach Julian Nagelsmann
WHERE TEL FITS IN AT TOTTENHAM
Who knows, maybe the real reason Postecoglou wanted him so much was the discovery that, years ago, Tel actually started off as a centre-back. He can help ease that position’s injury crisis!
Once it became clear that other moves wouldn’t materialise, Tel was ultimately persuaded by the promise of regular starts. Further up the pitch, of course. That was his priority when making a decision.
Dominic Solanke (£7.4m) is still out with a knee injury, joining Timo Werner (£6.2m), Wilson Odobert (£5.3m) and Brennan Johnson (£6.2m) on the sidelines. So we may see Tel thrown straight into action, instead of the usual expected transition.
What’s less clear is where, as both Son Heung-min (£9.8m) and Richarlison (£6.8m) can also play in different positions. The former more often from the left, the latter favoured up front.
Despite the pleas of Plettenberg, he may be more suited to being out wide in a Postecoglou side. After all, he was at his best for Bayern when attacking full-back Alphonso Davies was overlapping.
Between Djed Spence (£4.4m) and the almost-recovered Destiny Udogie (£4.8m), Tel should establish a similar relationship.
IS TEL WORTH BUYING IN FPL?
Monday afternoon brought the news that FPL authorities have made Tel a £6.0m midfielder. Initial thoughts are that he seems cheap and may even be an out-of-position asset, one that becomes tough to resist. On top of that, we’ll soon know whether or not Tottenham will have a Double Gameweek 25.
Last Friday, it was announced that their Gameweek 29 trip to Fulham will move forward should Spurs overcome Liverpool in Thursday’s EFL Cup semi-final second leg.
Here are the two scenarios:
Additionally, their other visit to Anfield – currently scheduled for late April – has a decent chance of rearrangement. Blank Gameweek 34 will depend on whether either side becomes an FA Cup semi-finalist.
Many FPL managers have been avoiding Spurs because of their horrific form. But Sunday’s much-needed win at Brentford ended a humiliating run of five points from 11 matches.
As we head into chip season, upcoming fixtures suddenly don’t look too bad for the Lilywhites. Meetings with Ipswich Town, Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers in the next eight Gameweeks, while the defences of the two Manchester clubs and Chelsea are far from formidable.
Should Tel impress in this week’s cup games, there could quickly be interest in taking a punt on this differential – especially if the Lilywhites get a double in Gameweek 25.
