Despite securing a permanent move to Tottenham Hotspur this summer, Mathys Tel sure seems like he wants to leave already. It’s understandable — he was left out of the Champions League squad by Thomas Frank in the fall, has spent much of the season on the bench, and has only recently started to get regular first team minutes and only because of a pretty significant injury crisis at the club. That’s a problem for Mathys, who is pretty desperate to make the France World Cup squad but won’t if he’s not getting regular minutes.
You have probably already noticed a lot of smoke from some somewhat dubious transfer sources suggesting there are clubs interested in taking Mathys Tel on loan in January. I’ve seen them too. Here’s another somewhat dubious source: Fabrizio Romano, saying Paris FC are one of those clubs who would be perfectly glad to take Mathys on loan thank you very much.
There’s a problem with these stories, however — they’re almost certainly driven by Mathys’ agents, but that won’t matter if Spurs don’t have any intention to loan him out. Which they probably don’t. And why would they? Spurs are now without Mohammed Kudus for the next three months or so, Richarlison just tweaked his hamstring in yesterday’s FA Cup loss to Aston Villa, and Spurs are in a world of hurt. Even if Spurs bring in another attacker in the transfer window, which it seems pretty likely that they’re at least trying, the situation is such that Tel is now very likely to be getting the minutes at Spurs that he’s been craving all along.
Now, I’m sure there are other reasons why he might want out of Tottenham Hotspur, considering the club is struggling and isn’t very good right now. But I would advise everyone reading this article to stop for a second, take a breath, and ask yourselves a couple of important questions, starting with: Does it make any amount of sense for Spurs to loan out Tel in January considering the position they’re in right now? I would argue — no, it does not. Nor would it make much sense for Tel to down tools if he doesn’t get his way.
Tel is a talented young player, with emphasis on the “young.” There are reasons to be optimistic that players like Tel, Wilson Odobert, Lucas Bergvall, Archie Gray, Luka Vuskovic, etc. are the future of the club and could develop into exceptional Premier League players. He wants to play and wants to make the World Cup, and he might think a loan to another French club, even one like Paris FC (which is NOT Paris Saint-Germain btw) might help facilitate that better than staying at Spurs. But it has to make sense to Spurs as well. Further weakening the squad to let him to chase his World Cup dreams that may or may not be a reality anyway just feels like wishcasting.
So for now I’d advise you all to chill out with these rumors. They’re clearly agent-driven with an even more clear agenda. That doesn’t mean they’re going to happen. Keep your powder dry until you get some rumors from legitimate sources that suggest Tottenham might be actually considering letting him leave. I rather doubt we’ll hear those.