Tottenham are on the verge of a deal to sign Bayern Munich star Mathys Tel thanks to an apparent intervention from manager Ange Postecoglou. The 19-year-old forward is set to make a complete U-turn and join the north London club just 72 hours after rejecting a move.
On Friday, it appeared that Tel had dealt Postecoglou a blow by opting to stay in Germany, despite both clubs agreeing on a deal.
His stance seemingly opened the door for Manchester United, but their loan bid was said to have stumbled over Bayern’s demands for a £6.6million fee.
Arsenal were also linked with a last-minute move, but according to talkSPORT, Mikel Arteta decided on Monday not to pursue the player. Instead, Tel has now arrived in London to seal his move to Spurs, with agent Gadiri Camara earlier sharing a photo of the pair travelling over by aeroplane.
Tel is said to have agreed to a loan move to the Premier League club until the end of the 2024/25 season. However, there is no obligation to buy clause inserted, meaning the player could yet return to the Bundesliga in the summer.
Tottenham have also reportedly agreed to cover the Frenchman’s salary until June. The remarkable turnaround is said to be due to Postecoglou speaking to the player on Zoom over the weekend, succeeding where Daniel Levy and co failed.
The Aussie manager is renowned for being a great motivational speaker, and whatever he said to the under-21 international clearly had the desired effect. And the signing will bring a much-needed boost to his depleted forward ranks.
Timo Werner and Brennan Johnson are currently sidelined by injury, while record-signing Dominic Solanke has been ruled out until March with a knee problem. Tel is likely to be deployed wide on the left, with captain Son Heung-min switching to a central striker role.
He could make his debut for his new club as early as Thursday when Spurs go to Liverpool for their League Cup semi-final second-leg. Postecoglou’s side will kick off at Anfield with a precious 1-0 lead following Lucas Bergvall’s late first-leg winner.
In his third season at Bayern, Tel has endured a frustrating campaign under Vincent Kompany. He’s made just eight league appearances and 14 in all competitions, the majority of which have come from the bench.
He’s also failed to score in the 2024/25 campaign. He joined the German giants from Rennes in 2022, aged just 17, for a fee in the region of £24m.
