The i Paper: Mathys Tel isn’t the problem – it’s Tottenham

Tel should look to Son Heung-min for how to salvage his Spurs career.

There’s hardly been a worse time to be a Tottenham Hotspur player than the last couple of years.

No other side in Spurs’ history has finished one place above the drop zone for two seasons in a row. This was meant to be the club’s golden era, building from the strong foundations of the 2010s. The infrastructure is in place and there’s a fresh trophy in the cabinet in the form of the 2025 Europa League.

When it comes to squad-building, Tottenham still have a pulse on promising talent, though very few of those diamonds in the rough have survived the pressure to become jewels of any substance.

Lucas Bergvall was signed from under the noses of Barcelona and has shown only glimpses of his ceiling. Archie Gray is popular among fans, players and coaches alike but risks becoming a poor man’s James Milner if he doesn’t nail down one position. Destiny Udogie and Micky van de Ven haven’t hit the same heights of their respective debut seasons.

Pape Matar Sarr has been cast aside to Juventus on an initial loan. European hero Brennan Johnson was sold to Crystal Palace in January. Luka Vuskokic got out before even wearing lilywhite, perhaps recognising this pattern of unfulfilled potential.

And there is currently one youngster taking more flack than anyone else. Mathys Tel, the former Bayern Munich prodigy, has had a particularly turbulent time in north London since arriving in February 2025.

Then 19, Tel probably wasn’t physically ready for the rigour and vigour of the Premier League, especially in Ange Postecoglou’s failing system. When the Australian was replaced by Thomas Frank, Tel fell further down the pecking order, finding himself excluded from Tottenham’s Champions League squad for the first half of 2025-26.

Frank would find himself coming to Tel in break-glass-in-case-of-emergency situations. He was massively influential off the bench in 2-2 draws with Manchester United and Newcastle and he opened the scoring in a 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth. But, like everyone else at Spurs, Tel’s flaws have been more glaring than his strengths of late.

He has become more of a mainstay under Roberto De Zerbi, as well as short-lived predecessor Igor Tudor, in part due to a lack of viable alternatives, but also because of his enthusiasm and commitment. If there is one constant about Tel among his various inconsistencies, it’s his work ethic.

There are many mitigating circumstances to explain Tel’s stagnant development. The turnover of four managers with vastly differing philosophies, all with vastly different plans for the club, has been the most concerning.

Beyond that, Tottenham have been plagued by an injury crisis which has even touched those who have remained healthy, with Tel the chief culprit of simply playing a lot more under intense scrutiny and pressure than he ought to have been. Add these ingredients to a relegation battle and a hostile home environment, which itself has brought mental drawbacks, and you have the perfect sh*t sandwich.

So, what can Tel control? What’s a feasible way for him to improve amid the chaos? For starters, a run out of the first XI would do him wonders, and Spurs’ improved depth in this department ought to allow that. He notably wasn’t outcast by De Zerbi when other key players were.

Tel has grown away from the electric, threatening wide forward who was so highly rated at Bayern, prioritising taking the full-back on to go round the outside instead. He leads the Premier League with 10 dribbles completed so far this season, but that’s not when he’s at his most dangerous.

The best version of Tel is the one who marries his trademark tenacity with simply getting shots away. Spurs don’t have many natural scorers left in their ranks having jettisoned Richarlison to the Nether Realm. If Tel wants inspiration, he should look at the transformation of Son Heung-min 10 years ago, when he shed away the habits of drifting outside to come infield a lot more.

Tel was widely courted before he ended up at Tottenham. This isn’t a matter of signing a bad player, rather finding a way to ensure he becomes a good one.