Mathys Tel raised the excitement levels at Tottenham Hotspur when he decided to join them on loan.
Spurs were mostly quiet in January, but Daniel Levy and Ange Postecoglou became very active in the final days of the transfer window.
Tottenham’s top target was Tel, but he rejected them. That was viewed as a huge blow for Spurs, but the Bayern Munich attacker changed his mind just a few days later.
Spurs completed the signing of Tel on loan on deadline day, and the North Londoners have an option to make that move permanent in the summer as well.
But, Tel hasn’t quite had the kind of impact that many thought he would since he joined Tottenham.
What Tottenham coaches privately think of Mathys Tel after his struggles
Tel has been at Tottenham for a little over a month now, and he has had his highs and lows.
The Frenchman scored a lovely goal against Aston Villa in his second game for Spurs, but since then, he hasn’t quite been able to have as good an impact as he would’ve liked.
Tel was subbed off at half-time in the game against AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League last week and the teenager was an unused substitute when Bournemouth came to town in the Premier League at the weekend.
The Bayern Munich loanee has come under a fair bit of criticism too, with some fans questioning whether he should be signed on a permanent deal for big money in the summer.
Tottenham’s coaches and members of the hierarchy, however, have no doubts about Tel – they are convinced that he will come good.
That’s according to GiveMeSport, who claim that ‘there is confidence behind the scenes that there is still bags of potential to unlock’ in Tel in the coming months and years.
It has further been added that Tel is viewed as an ‘attractive option on the left flank at a time when there is growing uncertainty over captain Heung-min Son’s future’.
Troy Deeney reacts to Mathys Tel getting criticised
One goal in six games is not the record Tottenham fans were hoping to see from Tel, but that is what has happened so far.
That has led to some criticism from some sections of the fan base, but Troy Deeney has jumped into the young Frenchman’s defence.
He has claimed that Tel may not be able to show his best form until the 2026/27 season, but Spurs should still stick with him.
Deeney said on talkSPORT: “He’s moving countries, he’s in London. I don’t care what anyone says, London has distractions, as we all know. You’re now trying to learn a team, a team that’s depleted and injury-prone. By the way, you’re meant to go in and enforce that and change it.
“He hasn’t played enough games to know who and what he is. So I think it (criticism) is massively unfair.
“You won’t see the best of him, probably not next season, but the season after. But they’re going to have to put a framework in and around him.”