Mathys Tel has now played the final game of his Tottenham loan spell. Joining from Bayern Munich at the end of the January transfer window, the Frenchman featured regularly for Ange Postecoglou and scored three goals in his 20 appearances.
The 20-year-old also departs with a Europa League winners' medal around his neck after Tottenham's triumph against Manchester United in Bilbao last Wednesday. Tel did not feature in the final but he more than played his part in the knockout phase to help Tottenham reach the showpiece finale.
As part of Tottenham's loan agreement with Bayern Munich, they can sign the highly-rated attacker on a permanent option for £45.7million with a six-year contract agreed. The north London club now need to decide if they buy Tel for the aforementioned figure, try negotiate a reduced transfer fee or elect against buying him permanently.
The ex-Rennes man settled in N17 extremely well and it is clear to see that the club has left a big mark on him. Speaking to SPURSPLAY following the final game of the season at home to Brighton & Hove Albion, he said: "Tottenham is a big family with the fans, with everybody else. Tottenham is not just a club, it is everything for us. We have to keep going and win more trophies."
His "Tottenham is not just a club, it is everything for us" comment highlights how he feels about the football club and it may well have dropped a hint over his intentions come the summer, as does his "we have to keep going" claim. Tottenham now need to signal their own intentions by buying him permanently or not.
On Tottenham's trophy success and the subsequent celebrations, Tel said: "It was incredible. It was crazy for the club, for the fans, for everybody else. I am very happy about it, we did it, we deserve it."
He added: "To be honest, I am playing football to win trophies so I believe in this team, in this club, and that is why we did it. I am very happy."
Tel's long-term Tottenham future may well hinge on what happens with Postecoglou amid plenty of speculation about what comes next for the Australian. Speaking on the eve of Tottenham's final game of the season against Brighton, football.london asked the head coach in his pre-match press conference if he wanted to keep Tel at the club next season.
"I guess they're the kind of discussions that we start to need to have," said the 59-year-old. "But again, without myself gate-crashing meetings, I need to be invited to them, but we'll assess all those things.
"Matty's done really well for us. We put him in a real difficult position in that as a young player who hadn't played a lot, probably wasn't fit enough, we just threw him straight in but he's handled it really well.
"I think he's been a real important contributor for us and he'll definitely play tomorrow at some point whether he starts or come off the bench. I'm sure those decisions we'll kind of look into post-season."