Thomas Frank has shockingly left Mathys Tel out of Tottenham's 25-man Champions League squad. The France under-21 international moved to north London in January when Spurs paid Bayern Munich £8.7million for a six-month loan.
Tel netted three goals and featured regularly under Ange Postecoglou before a £30m fee secured his permanent transfer in June. However, Tel has struggled to make his mark since becoming a fully-fledged Spurs player. Having delivered two underwhelming substitute appearances under Frank in the Premier League this term, he has now been excluded from the manager's European selection. While his immediate prospects in the English capital appear grim, Tel was hailed as a world-class prospect in Germany. He even received acclaim from Spurs legend Harry Kane and caused a stir with some bold training ground behaviour, suggesting Tottenham supporters have yet to witness what the 20-year-old can truly deliver.
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Back in 2023, when Julian Nagelsmann was at the helm at the Allianz Arena, a teenage Tel was one year into his Bayern spell, having joined from Rennes in July 2022 for £25m. He arrived with considerable expectations after leading France to the Under-17 European Championship, and he acknowledges that such self-assurance may have affected his judgment.
Reflecting on his questionable training ground conduct when he first arrived in the Bundesliga, Tel told French daily L'Equipe in 2023: "I was a bit crazy in training. I used to tell myself, 'Today I'll do what I want, I'll take the ball and do everything by myself.' My team-mates shouted at me. I quickly realised that I was doing something crazy."
These tendencies clearly diminished during his spell with Bayern. And following his permanent switch to Tottenham this summer, England skipper Kane was swift to offer his endorsement.
"He's got great potential. Whether he's playing as a left winger or a striker, he gets into dangerous areas, he can finish the ball well and he's good one-v-one," said Kane after his Bayern outfit defeated Tel's Tottenham 4-0 in pre-season.
"I don't want to put too much pressure on him. He's going to the Premier League, he's still extremely young, although he has a lot of experience here. He still has to develop and improve.
"He knows that, and he works hard to do that. So I just want him to go and enjoy himself, have confidence, and hopefully he can shine in the Premier League."
While being omitted from Spurs' European squad by Frank represents a setback, Tel has been in the Premier League for less than a year. And he still has ample opportunity to demonstrate his ability in the club's other commitments.
He might draw motivation from Djed Spence following this disappointment. That's after the full-back was excluded from Postecoglou's original Europa League squad last year before earning more respect in the squad, which was recently recognised by his first England call-up.