In the span of just a few days, the narrative changed several times as to where Mathys Tel would wind up before the winter transfer window closed, but he ultimately wound up getting loaned out to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League. Bayern Munich added on a buy-on clause to the loan deal worth 55 million euros should Spurs want to purchase him on a permanent basis after the loan spell is up. This move was far from cut and dry, though.
Tel himself had a preference to joining either Arsenal FC or Manchester United, who both did show interest in trying to get him from Bayern, but neither of the pair of clubs wanted him as much as the player felt they would. United felt the 5 million euro loan fee was a bit too pricy for a less-established striker and Arsenal did not wind up making a move for him before the window closed, all the while a phone conversation with Ange Postecoglou helped convince Tel to go to North London.
There were a lot of moving parts behind the scenes with the Tel loan, especially considering how hard the club’s front office has been working on getting contract extensions sorted out for Alphonso Davies, Jamal Musiala, and Joshua Kimmich. Club CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen recently explained what, exactly, went on with the move behind the scenes and how they essentially got from point ‘a’ to point ‘b.’
“This loan deal was special because there was a lot of confusion within less than a week. I personally had another story with Daniel Levy [the Kane transfer], so it was nice to do business with him again,” Dreesen explained, making reference to the drawn-out transfer saga of getting Harry Kane to Bayern (via @iMiaSanMia).
There had been periods, like during the beginning of last season under Thomas Tuchel when Tel scored some late, decisive goals, where the young striker showed plenty of promise, but he just has not been getting the chances under Vincent Kompany so far this season.
He had chances to leave in previous windows, decided to stay and fight for his place, but he really has not seen that decision pay dividend. “Young players will not develop if they don’t get any minutes. In the case of Mathys, he was subbed on at times, but currently there was no development for him with us. He’s just 19. So we had to consider a solution. We did that at the beginning of the winter break, but Mathys was determined to stay and establish himself with us. So the topic of a loan or sale was over at the time,” Dreesen rationalized.
Photo by ANP via Getty Images
For Tel, after a series of not getting any minutes at all, it became clear to him that he needed to make a change to be somewhere that he could be playing far more regularly, so he voiced his concern to the club. “At some point he had a change of heart after a game where he didn’t play. He went to the coach and sporting director and said ‘I want to go to another club because I’m not getting further in my career’ — we worked on it. It was late in the window. There were many offers and inquiries. Ultimately the player has to be convinced, otherwise it makes no sense,” Dreesen detailed.
Ultimately, the loan deal at Tottenham was really the best solution for all parties involved. There is a chance for Tel to play more, Tottenham has an option to buy if they want to keep him, and Bayern can re-asses what his future could hold once the loan spell is up. “We wanted to do the right thing not only for us, but also for the player. In the end we managed to do that well. Whether the option to buy will be exercised, that has to do with Mathys and his performances – then I think everyone will have fun,” Dreesen concluded.
Looking for thoughts and analysis on Bayern Munich’s upcoming Bundesliga tilt vs. Werder Bremen? Awesome, then check out the Bavarian Podcast Works — Preview Show on Patreon, Spotify, or below:
Be sure to stay tuned to Bavarian Podcast Works for all of your up to date coverage on Bayern Munich and Germany. Check us out on Patreon and follow us on Twitter @BavarianFBWorks, @BavarianPodcast @TheBarrelBlog, @BFWCyler, @IredahlMarcus, @2012nonexistent, @TommyAdams71 and more.
