This season has been rough for Tottenham Hotspur, but the last few days have provided the fans with reasons to be hopeful.
On the pitch, Ange Postecoglou’s side showed some real defensive solidity in their Premier League win away to Brentford, and off of it, Daniel Levy and Co finally strengthened the squad.
Just a day before the transfer window slammed shut, the club announced the signing of RC Lens centre-back Kevin Danso on a short-term loan with an obligation to buy at £20.9m.
Then, on deadline day itself, Mathys Tel was announced in a brilliant twist following reports that he had turned the Lilywhites down on Friday.
The French phenom has also joined on a short-term loan, but with an option to buy at £45m, and while his arrival is exceptionally exciting, the club could have been even more stacked in the attack had they been able to keep hold of a former player who was their original Tel.
Why Tel is a brilliant signing for Spurs
It would be fair to say that Spurs’ capture of Tel on Monday afternoon caused quite a stir among fans across the footballing world, and for good reason.
The 19-year-old dynamo might not have played much football under Bayern’s new boss, Vincent Kompany, this season, but last year, in the still limited but greater amount of game time Thomas Tuchel gave him, the Frenchman was unreal.
For example, in 41 appearances, totalling just 1406 minutes, the Sarcelles-born game-changer scored ten goals and provided six assists, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 2.56 games, or every 87.87 minutes, which is simply sensational.
Furthermore, while the “mind-blowing” star, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, will likely come in and play off the left for Spurs to provide the dynamism that Son Heung-min and Timo Werner cannot, he’s also more than capable of playing down the middle, and even off the right on occasion.
Therefore, not only will the manager have another tremendously exciting winger on his hands who can score and assist goals with aplomb, but he’ll also have a versatile star to help cover for injuries elsewhere across the frontline.
With that said, the club would be even better positioned had they kept one of their former youth players, who has since won comparisons to Tel.
Spurs' original Tel
So, to get straight to the point, the former Spurs player who has since been compared to Tel is Chelsea’s Noni Madueke.
Yes, before the £50k-per-week Englishman was playing for the Blues, he was tearing it up for PSV Eindhoven, who he joined for free in the summer of 2018 from the Lilywhites youth set-up, despite efforts by the club to keep him.
In the Netherlands, the 22-year-old racked up a haul of 20 goals and 14 assists in 80 appearances, which was enough to tempt the Pensioners into spending £30m on him in January 2023.
The potentially “world-class” international, as dubbed by journalist Simon Phillips, initially struggled for game time in West London, but this season, he has scored eight goals and provided four assists in 22 appearances, which comes out to a goal involvement on average every 2.16 games.
However, with all that said, aside from the clear positional similarities between the pair, where has this comparison to Tel come from?
Well, in this instance, it stems from FBref, which compares players in similar positions in Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League then creates a list of the ten most comparable players for each one, and, in this case, has concluded that the Englishman is the second most similar attacking midfielder or winger to the French prospect.
The best way to see how this conclusion has been reached is by looking at the underlying metrics in which the pair rank closely, including, but not limited to, actual and progressive passes, expected assists, crosses into the penalty area, tackles won, attempted take-ons and more, all per 90.
Progressive Passes
3.21
3.21
Expected Assists
0.21
0.15
Crosses into the Penalty Area
0.36
0.38
Tackles Won
0.71
0.69
Attempted Take-Ons
4.29
4.34
Carries into the Final Third
2.50
2.39
Ball Recoveries
3.57
3.77
Moreover, while there is a sense that the ceiling is that little bit higher for the Bayern loanee, there is also a real chance that in a more stable environment and under an attacking manager, the former Lilywhites prospect could develop into an incredibly exciting winger.
Ultimately, Spurs have done well to secure Tel’s services this season, but we can’t help but imagine just how much more dangerous they would be with Madueke on the other flank.
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