Should Tottenham sign €10m loanee on a permanent deal? – Opinion

If we go to last winter and the fact that Daniel Levy moved quite aggressively to bring in French sensation Mathys Tel from Bayern Munich on a loan deal in the middle of the season, it was by a lot of people as the 63-year-old club chairman putting on his forward-thinking hat and bringing in someone who would be quite capable of becoming more than just a stopgap solution at Hotspur Way.

Under Ange Postecoglou in the last campaign, the North Londoners had been lacking that much-needed dynamism when it comes to the final third, and this had a domino effect as the Lilywhites were short on goals and then lacked direct pace in attacking transitions. And Tel, coming into the ranks at N17 with all the talked-about explosiveness and technical ceiling, was a solution that brought all of that into a struggling Lilywhites side.

But then comes the difficult part: how the deal was structured. And this was raised as a criticism from pundits as well as fans for the wide part of the second half of the last season.

Let me give you a brief background to the Tel deal and the facts about it in the current situation…

Back in winter, the North Londoners forked out a huge €10 million fee to bring the French starlet on loan to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and to add to the fee, Daniel Levy also pledged a €45 million option to buy in the deal that the Lilywhites struck with Bayern Munich. This is a massive loan fee, even if it was structured for around a full season, let alone half of it.

Now as we walk along the summer transfer window, the North Londoners have taken the option to not go along with the option that Levy included in the original deal with the German giants. It’s not that the chiefs at N17 don’t like the player; they simply don’t think that the €45 million fee is worth it for what Tel brings to the table at his current status, given his inconsistency complemented by the minutes that he played in the past half year.

Let me get it straight; this is in no way about rejecting the player. This is, in fact, about trying to rebalance the expectations, and that can be looked at by the fact that the North Londoners have returned to the negotiating table in a bid to try to renegotiate the fee with Bayern Munich. Tottenham are trying to push the transfer price down to somewhere along €35–38.5 million (£30–33 million). And notably, given that Bayern are under pressure to sell, it could quite come off for Levy & Co.

How has Tel fared in his time at N17?

We saw how Tel was primarily used more in a rotational role at Tottenham, and we saw glimpses of his potential from the Frenchman. And this comes down to how he glided through the tight spaces, which at times got the better of the defensive structures of the opponents.

There was also this clear want to press from the front, which aided him in functioning in a more aggressive role, and this can also become an asset if he were to play in the mid-block pressing structure under Thomas Frank.

Moreover, he also showed his versatility, given how he played as LW, CF, or also as a second striker.

And while he still doesn’t have the decision-making and is not consistent with his final passes in the final third, that’s only to be expected given his budding age. But what is more important is that he adds a different kind of player to the current roster, someone who is more direct than Kulusevski and more agile than Solanke.

Why should Tottenham push through signing Tel?

The fact that Tel is only nineteen (19) with Champions League minutes under his belt, complemented by tactical experience in Bundesliga and Premier League setups, makes him ideally situated to push on with his development going into his budding years. And if Tottenham are able to secure his signature for somewhere under €40 million, then the potential resale value and his ceiling, given his probable contribution at N17 in the long term, remain quite high.

Moreover, this is an ideal Daniel Levy transfer, given how Tel is still young and quite dynamic, complemented by his high ceiling and how he is undervalued owing to market tension.

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Tel is a gamble worth taking

I do think that Tottenham are justified in their stance, given how €45 million is a fee too high for what Tel brings to the table, but now that the price is being dropped and Bayern are feeling the pressure to make a sale, then this churns out into a market opportunity that the North Londoners must capitalise on. If you were to ask me, Tel isn’t project signing; he has the capacity to be a potential starter in a season or so.