Mathys Tel is starting to answer some of the questions asked of him at Tottenham – so what next?

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It is probably safe to say Mathys Tel was thrown in at the deep end when he joined Tottenham Hotspur from Bayern Munich, on a six-month loan with an option to buy for £45.7million ($63.5m), in the final hours of the winter transfer window.

Tel needed a new home where he could regain the momentum he lost during two and a half years in Germany. The forward joined Bayern in July 2022 from French side Rennes and a month later became their youngest-ever goalscorer but he only started nine league games over three seasons. Tel racked up 1,680 minutes across 60 appearances and scored 12 times.

If you break those figures down, Tel scored on average once every 140 minutes in the Bundesliga while he was still a teenager. That sounds impressive but he was playing for a dominant side and tended to only come onto the pitch when Bayern were winning.

Moving to Spurs was a completely different challenge, and a risk, yet the hope was that it could be more beneficial for his development. He has already played 650 minutes in England’s top flight, already more than a third of his total at Bayern, and started eight out of 10 appearances.

Dominic Solanke, Tottenham’s first-choice centre-forward and club-record signing, suffered a knee injury in January which ruled him out for nearly two months and meant that Tel was immediately installed as the backup striker to Richarlison. Tel was quickly promoted to a starting role when Richarlison suffered a calf injury on his debut in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Liverpool.

Spurs suffered a 4-0 defeat at Anfield on Tel’s debut (Robbie Jay Barratt/Getty Images)

The France Under-21 international’s final league appearance for Bayern came off the bench on the left wing in a 5-0 victory over Hoffenheim. In the 48th minute, Tel assisted Leroy Sane with a superb back-post cross after he had been given a huge amount of space out wide. Three weeks later, he was being shoved around by Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate at Anfield as Liverpool thrashed Spurs 4-0.

Spurs initially tried to sign Randal Kolo Muani from Paris Saint-Germain in the winter window but he joined Juventus instead. Kolo Muani scored five times in his first three games for Juventus but has one goal since February. The 26-year-old’s experience might have been more beneficial for Spurs in that moment as they struggled for form but Tel fits in with their transfer policy under Postecoglou and technical director Johan Lange of targeting talented players under the age of 23.

Tel’s performances in the first couple of months of his loan were underwhelming but this crucial context was forgotten at times. He left Bayern, who had only lost twice domestically at that stage of the season, and was dropped into a team which was underperforming due to a crippling injury crisis. Spurs had lost six of their previous eight league games before Tel’s arrival. Nobody was going to flourish in those circumstances.

Tel’s versatility means that there are still question marks over his best position. He looked like an awkward fit in a central role for Spurs, as he struggled to hold the ball up, but Ange Postecoglou had no alternative options.

“I don’t think he’s going to be that kind of striker,” Postecoglou said in February. “But that doesn’t mean he can’t be a really good central striker, there are different types. With Mathys, and I’m not on social media but I can just imagine the comments about him, he’s 19 years old, he hadn’t played a lot, we’ve thrown him in and kept him in there because I want to build up his fitness.

“But if anyone is expecting him to come in as a 19-year-old and take the Premier League by storm by scoring multiple goals, it’s not realistic. It just can’t happen. What we’re trying to do is work with him. He needs to get his physical fitness up because he hasn’t played a lot of football. At 19, I see really outstanding attributes in him that I think he could be a really good No 9, he can play wide as well. But he’s not going to be a (Solanke) or a (Liam) Delap, he’s a different type. But looking at him in training, his movements are becoming a bit more fluent, he’s getting used to the way we play. He’s getting used to the level of competition.

“What I do love about him is that he’s a hard worker. You watch him in games, he’s closing people down, he’s doing the things we need him to do at the moment to help us. He may not be getting the goals and the accolades, but he’s certainly contributing to the way we want to play. That’s the most important thing. He’s got so much growth in him and I’m sure we’ll see that.”

Three months later, Tel is displaying those “outstanding attributes” on a far more regular basis. He has been given an extended opportunity on the left wing due to Son Heung-min’s foot injury and has impressed. The best example of the hard work he does out of possession came in last weekend’s 1-1 draw with West Ham United. Tel harassed Maximilian Kilman and forced him to make a mistake before he assisted Wilson Odobert.

Tel celebrates Tottenham’s goal on Sunday with Odobert (Sebastian Frej/Getty Images)

Tel scored in consecutive games against Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers at the beginning of April but, bizarrely, it feels like his breakout display came in the defeat by Nottingham Forest. Tel tormented Forest’s right-back Neco Williams and created multiple chances for Richarlison with crosses from either foot. There are similarities between Tel and Lucas Bergvall’s experiences this season. They both joined Spurs as teenagers and needed a period of adaptation before producing quality performances on a consistent basis.

Tel is more dynamic and unpredictable than Son at this stage of the South Korea international’s career. Odobert has the edge in one-on-one attacking situations but Tel is the superior finisher. Spurs triggered a one-year contract extension for Son in January. He is their captain but missed the Europa League quarter-final second leg against Eintracht Frankfurt and the 3-1 victory over Bodo/Glimt in the semi-final first leg — Tel and Richarlison started those games at left wing respectively.

If Spurs reach the final in Bilbao and Son recovers, he might not be the best option to start. Deciding between Son, Odobert and Tel will be an awkward dilemma for next season too, which is complicated by the importance of giving 17-year-old winger Mikey Moore game time.

Tel has demonstrated that he has leadership qualities on a couple of occasions. He tried to cajole the supporters after a 2-0 defeat by Fulham at Craven Cottage in March and ushered Postecoglou away from an angry fan. For a young, loan player to show that much care was an encouraging sign.

He drew all of the attention from Frankfurt’s players and fans when James Maddison won a penalty in the second leg by picking up the ball and striding over to the spot. When the referee moved Frankfurt’s players away, Tel handed the ball over to Solanke, who scored. He had just slightly eased the pressure on his team-mate with that mature and thoughtful act. It happened just over a week after Tel bickered with Brennan Johnson, who wanted to score a hat-trick, about taking a penalty against Southampton — maybe he had learned his lesson.

With Maddison set to miss the second leg against Bodo/Glimt on Thursday due to a knee injury, there will be added pressure on Spurs’ other attacking players to provide some creativity. Tel should be involved, even if he does not start in Norway, and he possesses the quality to help Spurs reach the Europa League final.

Lifting the trophy in Bilbao would be the perfect end to his first six months with Tottenham and would hopefully encourage him to stay permanently. Tel has settled well in north London and is close with several of his French-speaking team-mates, including Odobert.

“We’re asking some big jobs of him, playing on the left and then in the centre,” Postecoglou said on Sunday. “He’s constantly learning. A lot of our guys I know will develop into top footballers. They have to go through this process of learning and adapting and understanding the demands of the Premier League and the demands of this football club.

“We’ve asked a lot of Matty since he’s come in. He’s pretty much played in every game at some point. He’s taken in the information and he understands the role a little bit better, especially out on the left. Again, important for us. These last few weeks, we’ve obviously had Sonny out. We’ve needed him to fill that void and I think he’s done that job well.”

After a difficult start due to some challenging circumstances, suddenly the 20-year-old’s vast potential is clear for all to see. Now Spurs must decide whether they’re still willing to invest in it.

(Top photo: Sebastian Frej/Getty Images)

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