Journo reveals Thomas Frank’s message to Mathys Tel after being left out of the Tottenham Hotspur squad for the Champions League
Tottenham Hotspur unveiled their 22-man squad for the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League phase earlier this week, with head Thomas Frank leaving out six notable names.
Winning the UEFA Europa League in May gave Spurs a direct entry into the Champions League. The registration of players was an issue, as the Lilywhites did not have the required number of club-trained players to meet UEFA rules. To put things straight, Thomas Frank has too few homegrown squad members and too many who have come from elsewhere, which saw some big names miss out once the squad was announced.
The Danish tactician had to make some tough calls when it came to naming his squad for the elite European competition. Six players were omitted from the squad submitted by the north London club- Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Radu Dragusin, Mathys Tel, Kota Takai and Yves Bissouma.
James Maddison’s exclusion comes as little surprise, the creative midfielder suffered an ACL rupture during a pre-season friendly against Newcastle United in August, which will keep him sidelined for six to seven months. New summer arrival Kota Takai is also out with a plantar fascia problem and no set recovery date, while Radu Dragusin and Dejan Kulusevski are also missing as they recover from long-term knee injuries.
Reason revealed why Mathys Tel was left not included in the Tottenham’s Champions League squad
Eyebrows were raised when Tel was left out of the squad by Frank. Indeed, it would have been a principally difficult conversation for the Tottenham boss to have had with the Frenchman, whose loan move from Bayern Munich was turned into a permanent deal in June.
The 20-year-old has not played much under Frank, making a couple of substitute appearances in the Premier League so far this season. Now, the reason behind the Danish manager leaving Tel out from the 22-man squad has emerged.
TBR Football chief correspondent Graeme Bailey has provided us with an insight of the situation. He claims Frank has assured Tel that him being left out of the squad is down to the logistics and reduced squad number, and not a reflection of him as a player.
“In terms of Tel, I am told that he was informed by Frank and was assured it was purely because of the logistics and Spurs losing the three places because of the lack of homegrown players,” Graeme Bailey exclusively told TBR Football.
“They fully sympathised with him and assured him that it was not a reflection on him, as such, just an issue with them only being able to register less than 20 outfield players.
“The player is understandably disappointed, but the squad can and will be assessed again heading into the next round, so there is hope for him that he will be involved.”
Tel must prove himself to Frank
Tel has gone through a lot since the start of August. He was one of the Tottenham players to miss a penalty in the UEFA Super Cup shootout defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in Udine. This sadly led to horrific racist abuse towards the France Under-21 international from social media users, and Tottenham wasted no time in putting out a strong statement of support for our player.
Now, being left out of Spurs’ 22-man Champions League squad should be a tough pill to swallow for Tel. A mentally strong character, the Sarcelles native would be keen to work harder and prove himself to Frank. The young forward will be a key player for the Lilywhites as the season progresses.
