Mathys Tel might just have the makings of an ideal Thomas Frank winger

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Thomas Frank’s spell at Brentford will be remembered for many things.

First and foremost, he took the west London club, who were in League One as recently as 2013-14, to the Premier League for the first time. Once they reached England’s top flight, he was the primary figure in ensuring they stayed there, reinforcing their reputation as one of the country’s best-run clubs. And, perhaps most importantly for Tottenham Hotspur, he developed a group of talented young players into Premier League stars.

Ollie Watkins, Said Benrahma, Ivan Toney, Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa are now all international regulars, having made their names at Brentford. Now, he is challenged with doing the same for the catalogue of young players at his disposal in north London.

Mathys Tel is the most recent addition to a promising group of youngsters, including Lucas Bergvall, Wilson Odobert and Archie Gray. Over 20 appearances last season on loan under Ange Postecoglou, Tel demonstrated enough potential to persuade Spurs to sign him permanently from Bayern Munich on June 15, with Tottenham renegotiating the initial €55million (£45.7m; $56.9m) buy option down to €35million (plus €10m in potential bonuses) to secure the France Under-21 international on a six-year contract.

“(I’m) very, very excited about Mathys signing a permanent deal,” Frank said in an interview with the club’s website this week. “I think he’s a very talented player who can play across the front four positions.

“He’s a goalscorer, that we can develop even further, and be even more consistent in his all-round game and also more consistent to land in the right positions in the box. I’m looking forward to it.”

Despite scoring on his first start against Aston Villa, it took a while for Tel to find his feet in north London. With Tottenham’s first and second-choice strikers Dominic Solanke and Richarlison sidelined through injury, Tel was thrown in at centre-forward.

Tel has joined Tottenham on a permanent deal (Justin Tallis/Getty Images)

It’s not a position he is entirely unfamiliar with, having previously deputised there at club and age-group national level, but it soon became apparent he lacked the experience and physicality to carry out that role effectively in the Premier League. As Postecoglou started to rest his typical starters in the league, leaning towards prioritising the Europa League, Tel started featuring more consistently on the wings, improving his performance.

A three-game stretch in April, where Tel scored in successive games against Southampton and Wolves before shining against Nottingham Forest at home, provided the impetus to finish the season strongly. While he could not prevent a 2-1 defeat to Nuno Espirito Santo’s side, Tel created five chances and was a persistent threat, along with club and international team-mate Odobert, demonstrating his ability to impact matches at that level.

Still, having not set the world alight on loan, registering two goals and two assists from 13 league matches, Spurs are buying Tel with a view to the player he could become. Fortunately for the club, Frank’s track record suggests he could be the ideal coach to help Tel realise his potential.

The list of forwards who have reached new heights under Frank is impressive, but Mbeumo’s evolution is the most relevant when assessing how Tel could improve under the Dane. Mbeumo, 25, joined the west London club in 2019 from Troyes in France’s Ligue 2 and started life under Frank strongly, scoring 15 goals in 42 league appearances in his debut season before adding eight in 44 as they secured promotion to the Premier League in 2020-21.

While his Championship record, particularly in his first season, demonstrated Mbeumo’s goalscoring potential, there was large scope for the Cameroon international to improve in the top flight. Before a career-best season in 2024-25, Mbeumo had failed to hit double figures in his three previous seasons in the Premier League and underperformed his expected goals tally in each, indicating a wastefulness from promising positions.

Frank helped take Mbeumo’s game to the next level (Visionhaus/Getty Images)

Last season, however, Mbeumo took a significant leap and became one of the league’s most clinical finishers. He registered 20 league goals last term — one of just five players to hit that number — from an xG of 12.3, the largest overperformance in the Premier League (7.7).

While Frank has justifiably taken most of the credit for Mbeumo’s improvement, a considerable portion should also be handed to assistant coach Justin Cochrane, who will join Frank in the Tottenham dugout.

After leaving Manchester United in June 2022 for west London, Cochrane was primarily assigned to improve Brentford’s attackers, pushing Mbeumo, Wissa and Kevin Schade to another level in front of goal with finishing drills.

There are promising signs Frank and Cochrane could have a similar effect on Tel. Firstly, in his first two seasons at Bayern Munich, he scored 12 goals from an xG of 6.4 — an overperformance of 5.6, which is particularly remarkable given he was aged 17 and 18. Last term was Tel’s first full season where he did not record a positive xG difference (-1.7 across periods at Bayern and Spurs), but there’s considerable evidence that Tel has the raw qualities in front of goal to develop into a clinical finisher.

The first step is to get Tel into goalscoring positions more consistently. When stationed on the left under Postecoglou, the 20-year-old often hugged the touchline and called for passes into feet, where he would combine with the full-back or attempt to dribble inside and create for team-mates or shoot from distance. While Mbeumo was typically listed as a right winger and defended in that position, he was directed to move inside and play on the opposition’s defensive line when Brentford had attacking opportunities, allowing Wissa to drop deeper and help with the build-up.

In this instance, from Brentford’s 4-2 win over Brighton and Hove Albion in April, Keane Lewis-Potter breaks through the Brighton and Hove Albion press by playing a give-and-go with Brentford midfielder Yehor Yarmolyuk, allowing him to break ahead of Wissa and into the midfield.

Mbeumo, who had made an out-to-in movement from the right, positioned himself between the Brighton centre-backs. Lewis-Potter slid in a pass, which Mbeumo guided into his path perfectly and finished across goal.

Having deputised as a striker in Germany and England, Tel has shown glimpses of his ability to create space in central positions with clever movement. Here’s one example from Bayern Munich’s 4-3 win over Manchester United in September 2023.

Tel faked a run closer to Joshua Kimmich, bringing Casemiro further out from United’s defensive block to follow him, and sprinted in the gap it created on the edge of the box. Kimmich exploited the gap, lofting a pass over Casemiro and into Tel’s path, who controlled the ball and fired into the top of the net.

Here’s another example of Tel making space from a central position, having started the match as a striker. On this occasion, Tel is positioned on the shoulder of the central defender and spun his marker in time with Bayern defender Bouna Sarr to split the Preussen Munster defence with a line-breaking pass, putting the forward on goal.

Tel sprinted on and fired into the bottom corner. Given Solanke’s ability to roam from central positions and connect with the midfield, Tel’s ability to move into his area and finish could be a frequent route to Spurs goals under Frank.

Another area which should encourage Frank is Tel’s ability to finish with both feet. Since the 2022-23 season, Tel has scored 10 open-play goals with his right and five with his left, an impressive balance and, crucially, a characteristic he shares with Mbeumo. Take this moment, for example, where Mbeumo’s ability to score with both feet leads to a goal for the Cameroon international.

Having moved inside from the right wing, Mbeumo lays a pass into Wissa and darts into the space between the Fulham left-back and left-sided central defender. Wissa then returns a pass to Mbeumo, who can either slide a pass into Schade or go on his own.

His ability to go both ways prompts a moment of pause from Fulham defender Calvin Bassey, and Mbeumo takes the ball onto his weaker right foot and scores across goal. Having the capability to go both ways is a world-class attribute Frank and Cochrane will attempt to maximise in Tel at Hotspur Way.

Primarily, his two-footedness elevates his ability to score from various angles and positions, but it also increases his potential as a playmaker. In the clips below, Tel demonstrates his ability to break defensive lines with his right foot.

And here…

However, given his ball-striking ability with his weaker foot, there is also significant potential for improvement as a playmaker with his left. Frank is committed to improving players’ strengths and weaknesses, and this is an area that could facilitate Tel’s development.

While it’s unfair to presume Tel will immediately (or ever) reach Mbeumo’s level from last season, their similarities on the pitch are striking. Neither take opposition full-backs on frequently (Tel is slightly higher at 1.57 successful take-ons per 90, compared to Mbeumo’s 1.37), preferring to do their damage with moments of quality around the box. They’re also varied finishers with a turn of pace that can leave defenders in the dust.

It’s now Frank and Cochrane’s job to prepare Tel to demonstrate that quality in matches, as they did with Mbeumo.

Top photo: Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images

This news was originally published on this post .

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