Tottenham Hotspur star left winger Mathys Tel is one of the best young forwards in the Premier League, but he did not get a chance to consistently showcase that in the 2025/26 season. Now, some of that is down to the 21 year old player's own need to develop consistency, but it is also hard to truly shine when your managers are Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor and you are being tossed in and out of the starting lineup at random.
When Tel did play and did get momentum with a steady run of games, he was the most dangerous attacking player for Spurs from the perspective of driving at the goal and creating shooting chances for himself. Tel has a different work rate and mentality, and he has been fully COYS since Day One, playing an underrated role when the Lilywhites captured the Europa League title in 2025.
This preseason, Tel has been on fire, and as Tottenham Hotspur mull over potential left wing signings like Savinho, his Manchester City teammate Omar Marmoush, and even Liverpool star Cody Gakpo, Tel is staking his own claim, too.
Mathys Tel is one of Spurs best players right now
So far this summer, Mathys Tel has been Tottenham's best player overall, even above young midfield sensations Archie Gray and the homegrown Luca Wiliams-Barnett. He was undeniable against Sydney FC, for example, scoring a brilliant free kick, and he was just as dangerous at manufacturing scoring opportunities off the ball and on the dribble in the prior friendly vs. Auckland FC.
Roberto De Zerbi is weighing up exactly how his squad will look in the 2026/27 Premier League season, and with how ambitious Spurs want to be and how badly they want to win now under the former Brighton manager, Tel knows that he has a shorter leash than his talent would otherwise indicate.
Therefore, it has been huge to see Tel already stepping up his performances for Tottenham in the preseason, and even though these games do not count in the table, they very much 100 percent count towards a player getting playing time and making an impression on the coach.
Tottenham fans are raving about Tel again, and even those who were not buying up Tel stocks last season despite his flashes under the woeful Thomas Frank are starting to murmur about his potential again. Tel is making it clear to Roberto De Zerbi that he is one of the best forwards on Tottenham right now, and the only one who can truly say he is better is Mohammed Kudus.
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