Mathys Tel has long had the inside track on being the starting left winger for Tottenham Hotspur among the players currently in the squad, but it will not be easy for him this season if Spurs make two expected upgrades in Savinho and Cody Gakpo, whom are both high on Roberto de Zerbi's list of potential forward targets this summer.
But Tel, who is also a player De Zerbi has said he likes, is making quite the statement to De Zerbi this summer that he merits serious consideration this season, having been passed over by multiple managers last season despite being the clear best attacking player on the team following Mohammed Kudus's injury.
Once again, Tel has been Spurs best forward this preseason, and he really placed a feather in his cap with a brace of assists in the 3-0 win over Hoffenheim on Saturday, proving impossible for the Bundesliga side's defense to contain.
Mathys Tel is creating now
While Mathys Tel was always touted highly for his ability to create his own chances and cause havoc with a positive attitude, one area of weakness that fans wanted him to work on was his ability to create chances for others and his quality as a passer.
With two brilliant, on a platter assists for Mikey Moore and a couple of other accurate passes leading to scoring chances against Hoffenheim, Tel has really sent a message to Tottenham Hotspur that he is seriously improving a major weakness and arguably the last real hurdle to him proving that he is a worthy starter in the Premier League on the left wing.
Tottenham owe Tel for some game changing moments last season as they survived Premier League relegation, but he did leave some assists on the table by not making the right decision or pass. So far this preseason, Tel has been better and more thoughtful as a creator, showing a leap in decision making and technical quality that many fans already believed he would be able to deliver on with more experience.
Touted as the next big thing in French football while at Rennes, Tel was unable to make the most of his opportunities at Bayern Munich, largely because he received so little of them, and Tottenham will have to be careful that after signing Savinho and Cody Gakpo to provide much needed attacking upgrades, they don't run into the same issue here either.
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