According to reports, Tottenham Hotspur’s new ‘agreement’ with Bayern Munich for striker Mathys Tel threatens a possible permanent transfer.
Following a dramatic saga with plenty of twists and turns, Tel completed his loan move to Spurs on deadline day.
Tottenham made the 19-year-old their top target when he became available and they fended off competition from several Premier League rivals to sign him.
The Frenchman has 16 goals and seven assists in his 83 appearances for the Bundesliga giants, but he was only a bit-part player at the start of this season as he was behind Harry Kane in the pecking order.
Spurs initially looked to sign Tel permanently and this deal appeared off when he turned down a move under these circumstances last week.
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However, Tottenham rekindled the deal on deadline day and managed to tempt Tel to join the Premier League side on loan.
This was initially expected to be a straight loan, but The Athletic’s David Ornstein revealed that they managed to negotiate a ‘purchase option’ in this deal.
‘Mathys Tel’s loan deal taking him to Tottenham Hotspur will include a purchase option of €55million (£45.7m; $56.9m) and a six-year contract for the 19-year-old.
‘Spurs have agreed a deal with Bayern Munich and Tel has completed a medical ahead of the move. He will sign a contract with his new side shortly.’
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‘The Athletic reported earlier on deadline day that Tottenham were close to agreeing a deal with Bayern for Tel, who had previously attracted interest from Manchester United and Chelsea.
‘Last week, Tel had indicated he wished to remain at Bayern and reassess his future in the summer despite Tottenham agreeing a deal with the German club.’
However, this comes with a caveat as Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg this ‘option’ can only be triggered if Tel is in favour of the move.
Plettenberg said: “As reported and confirmed Spurs have secured an option to make the move permanent in the summer.
“However, there is an agreement between Spurs and Tel that the option to buy will only be triggered if the player also gives his consent.”
In more concerning news for Spurs, The Athletic revealed Radu Dragusin will miss the rest of this season.
‘Tottenham Hotspur defender Radu Dragusin is expected to miss the rest of the 2024-25 season after injuring the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee during last week’s Europa League game against Elfsborg.
‘The Romania centre-back will undergo an operation with a top knee surgeon in London soon and is likely to be out for an extended period of time.
‘This means Dragusin is unlikely to feature again this season, with the expectation that he will be out for six months. The hope is that he will return over the summer, and be back early next season.’