After rejecting the chance to join Tottenham Hotspur this January, Mathys Tel finds himself omitted from Vincent Kompany's Bayern Munich matchday squad.
The door was opened to Tottenham and other rivals by the 19-year-old talent himself, who last week informed Bayern officials of his intention to make a mid-season departure.
They made and had their loan-to-buy accepted before anyone else could act. Chairman Daniel Levy even flew to Munich to wrap up the deal, though after a face-to-face meeting Tel made his final decision to reject the approach.
Now with roughly two-and-a-half days remaining to ensure a move goes through no time can be wasted and that is why the attacker has been left out entirely from Bayern's Bundesliga clash with Holstein Kiel this Saturday afternoon.
Multiple sources state that Tel and his current club are assessing all the available options to resolve his future, which won't be with Tottenham following Friday's twist.
Sky Sports and their reporters in Germany have claimed the Frenchman has received his first verbal offer from Man United, which is 'under review'. In fact, BILD have gone as far to claim that they are his current preference.
However, this may not necessarily align with Bayern's wishes of a financial package matching that which Tottenham offered, and therefore friction could arise between club and player.
Aston Villa are said to be their 'concrete' challengers, which is especially interesting with our colleagues at the Manchester Evening News reporting Villa are closing in on a loan agreement for Marcus Rashford in another shocking turn.
football.london had first reported in January that Chelsea had made contact in an attempt to land the player, who has long been in their sights.
They followed up a summer 2024 enquiry to ask if Tel would be available to sign this winter, and did not include Christopher Nkunku in negotiations as part of a swap deal.