Tottenham Hotspur have completed the signing of Mathys Tel on loan from Bayern Munich.
As The Athletic reported earlier on deadline day, the deal includes an option to buy Tel for €55million (£45.7m; $56.9m) on a six-year contract. He will wear the No 11 shirt at Spurs.
Tel had previously indicated to Tottenham that he wished to remain at Bayern, despite an agreement being reached between the two clubs and the player’s representatives.
Manchester United were interested in bringing in Tel on loan if he was available, while Chelsea held a long-standing interest in him that pre-dated the winter window.
The 19-year-old becomes Spurs’ third signing of the window after Czech goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky and Austrian centre-back Kevin Danso joined the club.
Tel joined Bayern in July 2022 from French side Rennes and became the club’s youngest-ever goalscorer the following month, netting in a 5-0 win over Viktoria Cologne to break the record previously held by Jamal Musiala.
He has scored 16 goals and provided seven assists in 83 appearances for the Bavarian club.
Let me Tel you something. pic.twitter.com/OgaApRCupN
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 3, 2025
The France youth international will be the second member of Tottenham’s squad on loan from a Bundesliga side, after Timo Werner joined on loan in January 2024 from RB Leipzig and then extended his stay until the end of the 2024-25 campaign.
Tel will add depth to a Spurs attacking unit that has been heavily affected by injuries this season. Werner, Brennan Johnson and Wilson Odobert are all currently sidelined but, according to head coach Ange Postecoglou, are set to return shortly.
Richarlison and Mikey Moore returned from their respective absences in January, while Dominic Solanke is likely to be out until March with a knee injury.
‘No doubt about his ability’
Analysis by Anantaajith Raghuraman
Tel signalled his arrival on the big stage from the bench.
Across 140 minutes as a substitute in Bundesliga and Champions League games for Bayern Munich at the start of the 2023-24 season, Tel scored five goals. His talent had shone through in limited minutes the previous season under Julian Nagelsmann. Aside from scoring five league goals in just 397 minutes, his confidence in taking players on and getting shots away stood out.
That carried over to the first two months of the following season under Thomas Tuchel. Tel finished with 10 goals across all competitions despite making only 10 starts.
His ascent has hit a roadblock, though, with only 462 minutes of action across competitions in 2024-25 under a third manager, Vincent Kompany.
Tel was at his best last season when paired with Alphonso Davies on the left. The Canadian was willing to make the overlapping runs that provided Tel with one-on-one opportunities. Davies and Tel exchanged 88 passes during that Bundesliga season, making it the forward’s most active partnership.
Moving to Bayern from Rennes in 2022 was bound to present obstacles given off-the-pitch changes, the quality of forwards in their squad and the later expectations set by Tel’s hot start. But there can be no doubt about his ability as an inside forward, with the versatility to deliver in other positions.
(Sebastian Widmann/Getty Images)
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