Mathys Tel transferred from Stade Rennais to FC Bayern in 2022 for around 20 million euros. The young French talent wanted to make his mark in Munich and occasionally impressed as a substitute.
However, the youngster was unable to take that final, decisive step toward becoming a player who could regularly start and make an impact for Bayern. In 2025, he was loaned to Tottenham, and later transferred to the Spurs on a permanent basis.
Tel played 83 games for FC Bayern, racking up 23 points. Since joining the Spurs, he has appeared in 61 games and has tallied 11 points.
Tel is viewed critically at the Spurs
So even at Tottenham, his statistics are anything but impressive. Neither are his performances. Following Tottenham’s second loss in their second game of the season, Tel is facing heavy criticism. The decisive factor was a free kick by the former Bayern player in the 68th minute, which sailed miles over the goal because he completely misjudged the ball.
This scene epitomized the Frenchman’s time in a Spurs jersey. There were few promising moments, but plenty of plays like this one, where he simply lacked that final bit of focus. Fans and experts harshly criticized Tel afterward.
“Oh my God! That’s one of the worst free kicks I’ve ever seen,” said former Spurs pro Jamie O’Hara on talkSPORT. And one person put it even more bluntly: “He’s just not good enough. I don’t know why everyone acts like he’s a solid player—he’s absolutely terrible.”
Those are harsh words, of course, but the Spurs don’t currently have much hope that the Frenchman will ever take that big step forward. That’s one of the reasons they’ve made several more moves to bolster their offense. Savinho arrived from Manchester City, as did Omar Marmoush, and Iliman Ndiaye from Everton is also on his way. For Tel, this could mean that his time with the Spurs is coming to an end.
