Ange Postecoglou had already urged Tottenham Hotspur to make the signing of Mathys Tel a permanent deal.
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Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed the permanent signing of Mathys Tel from Bayern Munich following his short-term loan move to north London.
The 20-year-old arrived at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the start of February with the club needing fresh blood to alleviate the pressure of an injury crisis. Tel went on to make 19 appearances for Spurs and was a prominent part of Ange Postecoglou’s work over the second half of the campaign, scoring three times and picking up one assist, along with helping the club to a Europa League win.
Tel did not play in the Europa League final and had to settle for a place on the bench but did feature five times for Spurs in their Europa League efforts. Spurs had the option to buy Tel for £45 million, and have now activated that clause.
Tottenham Hotspur sign Mathys Tel from Bayern Munich
A club statement on Sunday confirmed: “We are delighted to announce the permanent signing of Mathys Tel from FC Bayern. Mathys joined the Club from the Bundesliga side in February on loan until the end of the season with an option to make the move permanent. We can confirm we have agreed a deal with Bayern that will see the France Under-21 international sign a contract that will run until 2031 when his current loan deal ends on 30 June.”
While that is the first signing of the Thomas Frank era at Spurs, with the manager having arrived from Brentford to replace Postecoglou, it’s a transfer with Postecoglou written all over it. The Aussie had already told the club to push and make the loan move permanent prior to his early departure from the club.
Speaking ahead of the final Premier League fixture against Brighton, Postecoglou was asked for the latest on the player’s future. He said: “I guess they're the kind of discussions that we start to need to have. 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 that decisions we will kind of look into post-season.”
Ange Postecoglou already gave Tel move seal of approval
It had been reported that Spurs are said to be planning to reduce the option to buy they currently hold in that deal, knowing that Bayern Munich are keen to cash in on the star with him not part of the squad’s long term plans. That has indeed happened with the club paying £30 million to sign Tel, rather than £45 million.
At the time of signing Tel, Postecoglou made it clear that he hoped that the move would be for longer than half a season. He: “I didn’t actually bring him here just for six months. I think he’s very, very exciting. When you meet him, you realise that he has that certain something. He has enormous confidence in what he wants to do.
“Although he is still young, he can physically handle the Premier League. He’s a goal scorer, he can hold his own, he’s got the necessary speed. He will play an important role in our end-of-season push and beyond.”
Tel won the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich in 2023 and has a winner’s medal to collect this year having turned out for the German giants eight times in the league this term prior to the Tottenham Hotspur move.
In other news, Tottenham sign Brentford trio and England international in dream Thomas Frank XI if rumours are true.