Bayern Munich legend Lothar Matthaus is not entirely pleased with Mathys Tel’s loan move to Tottenham Hotspur.
Mathys Tel’s future was one of the biggest talking points in the final weeks of the winter transfer window. He was linked with a move away from Bayern Munich and after long-drawn negotiations, the French forward finally secured a move to Tottenham.
He had an opportunity to join the North London club earlier in the transfer window but Tel turned it down. However, it seems he had a massive change of heart as he ended up joining Spurs on deadline day on a six-month-long loan spell with an option to buy.
Lothar Matthaus on Tel’s deadline day move
While people at Tottenham are delighted to have pulled it off in the final hours of the transfer window, former Bayern Munich star Lothar Matthaus is unhappy with the deadline-day move.
In his column for Sky Germany, the former Ballon d’Or winner wrote via SportsWitness: “The Tel issue has been a kind of misunderstanding for me for two years,”
“He was hyped at the beginning, showed his class under Tuchel and scored goals, but he didn’t have the chance to prove himself after that. Not under Tuchel, not under Kompany either.
“Uli Hoeneß said that they wanted to develop young players, but then they would have had to sell one or two players in Tel’s positions. (…) He was mostly just the fifth wheel on the wagon and therefore totally unsettled.
“The latest development surrounding Mathys Tel shows what a drama the whole thing is. There is no clarity, no clear statements. First, they wanted to sell him, now they’ve loaned him out.”
Matthaus has highlighted the fact there was a lot of hype around the teenage sensation when first made the move to the German giants in the summer of 2022. While he had an exciting start to life at Bayern, he slowly faded away from the first-team picture.
Despite an impressive start, he has only had limited opportunities. The 19-year-old racked up less than 500 minutes of first-team action in the first half and he was keen on parting ways with the German club. Matthaus is frustrated by the fact that the club talk about developing young players but they haven’t handed Tel enough minutes.
Finances involved in Tel’s move to Tottenham
Moreover, they were initially looking to sell him but ended up sending him out on loan to Spurs. While the former Bayern star is not happy with all the drama surrounding Tel’s transfer, the German club can certainly make a massive financial gain from it.
They had signed for €20 million back in 2022 and could end up making €70 million from his transfer. Spurs have paid a loan fee of €10 million and since they were keen on having a buy clause both clubs have agreed to a fee of €60 million. Apart from that Tottenham will also be paying the remaining €1.67 million of his €4 million per season wages.