After Tottenham Hotspur completed the loan signing of forward Mathys Tel, football writer James Eastham explores the Frenchman’s journey to the Premier League via the academy at Ligue 1 side Rennes and Bayern Munich.
Spurs’ new signing Mathys Tel could not have wished for a better place to begin his professional career. By joining Rennes’ academy at the age of 15, he was increasing his chances of making it in the game he loves.
Rennes’ long list of well-known graduates is testament to the fine work that scouts, coaches and educators have been doing in this particular corner of north-west France for a long time.
Six years before Tel’s 2022 move to Bayern Munich, France winger Ousmane Dembele – arguably Rennes’ most famous academy graduate – embarked on his own journey to Germany, in his case joining Borussia Dortmund.
In August 2021, when Tel became the youngest player ever to appear in a professional match for Rennes, aged just 16 years and 110 days old, breaking the record set by Eduardo Camavinga, who had joined Rennes at the age of 11. Now at Real Madrid, Camavinga made more than 70 first-team appearances for Rennes before moving to Spain.
When Tel captained France to victory at the UEFA European Under-17 Championship in 2022, there were two fellow members of the Rennes academy alongside him in the starting line-up in their 2-1 win over the Netherlands in the final – defender Jeanuel Belocian, now at Bayer Leverkusen, and attacking midfielder Desire Doue, who joined Paris Saint-Germain last year.
The club’s influence was evident in the Premier League well before Tel’s Deadline Day move to Spurs. Players including Brighton & Hove Albion’s Georginio Rutter, Everton midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure and Chelsea’s Lesley Ugochukwu, currently on loan at Southampton, all entered the professional game via the Brittany-based academy.
Who is Mathys Tel?
Tel was born in Sarcelles, in the northern suburbs of Paris. Before moving to Rennes in 2020, he spent time at several smaller clubs in the French capital – Villiers-le-Bel, Paris FC, Aubervilliers, Montrouge – plus the prestigious INF Clairefontaine academy, the base for the region’s most talented youngsters.
In that sense, Tel’s journey was typical of elite youngsters. Where he differed from many others was in the absence of unanimity over his best position on the pitch.
As a boy, he often played as a defender. Reda Bekhti, one of his coaches at Paris FC, explained to daily sports newspaper L’Equipe: “If you put him up front, with his running and shooting power, it was easy for him to score. He needed to work on his technical skills. By playing in a deeper position, he gained a different perspective on the game, and was able adapt to different situations.”
Defender turned striker
Tel was operating as a defender when Rennes identified him as a player to follow, and even after arriving in Brittany, there was debate about what his best position would be.
“You could tell he had tremendous levels of self-motivation,” Mathieu Le Scornet, a senior figure in the Rennes academy, told L’Equipe.
“When he was 13 or 14 years old, though, it was hard to imagine him playing up front. I saw him more as a No 8, replacing Eduardo Camavinga.”
By the time Tel first enjoyed international recognition, however, he had emerged as an attacker, operating wide or centrally. The stats bear out why his gradual shift up the pitch made sense, and in 32 appearances for France U17s, Under-18s and Under-19s combined, he scored 20 goals.
Such was his talent, Tel made his France Under-21s debut aged 18; he has netted three times in eight appearances in that age category now, scoring at an impressive rate of a goal every 102 minutes.
‘It’s a great move for both parties’
Former Spurs striker Harry Kane, who has been a team-mate of Tel’s at Bayern over the last 18 months, believes the talented youngster can flourish during his time in north London.
“It’s a great move for both parties. Mathys is a great guy and really hardworking,” Kane told Spurs’ official club website.
“Obviously, for his potential it’s important for him to get some minutes under his belt and some regular game time and hopefully develop, keep improving and hopefully fulfil all the potential that he has.
“It’s great for Tottenham to have a young hungry player with loads of talent to hopefully score some goals and help push Tottenham as far as possible.
“I’m wishing him all the best. I hope he has a fantastic time there. I know he will and I’m sure all the fans will make him feel really welcome as well.”
Tel made his Spurs debut on Thursday night, replacing the injured Richarlison in the first half of their EFL Cup semi-final second leg defeat at Liverpool.
Having achieved so much before turning 20 in April, Spurs have signed a player of formidable potential, meaning there is much, much more to come.