Tel could be thrown straight into Spurs attack at Anfield

Last season the Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel used Mathys Tel almost exclusively as an impact substitute, a player who could be charged up and sent on to give the game a jolt.

- LAWRENCE OSTLERE

Tel racked up three goals and one assist off the bench in Bayern’s first five league games, but he was made to wait until March for his first Bundesliga start. When the day finally came, away at Freiburg, he scored an eye-catching goal that fizzed through the air and dipped into the far corner, and yet he was back on the bench the following weekend.

His role this season receded even further under Tuchel’s replacement, Vincent Kompany, and so perhaps it is no surprise that he was growing frustrated and looking for a way out. Bayern tried to make the case that, at 19, he required a little patience. Tel clearly felt he was wasting precious time and his progress was stalling.

Tel’s potential was seen as almost limitless when he broke into Rennes’ first XI aged 16, taking the record for the club’s youngest player from Eduardo Camavinga. Bayern moved quickly amid interest from across Europe, paying around £25m after bonuses, and yet with hindsight perhaps more time at Rennes would have aided his development, just as the player he was often compared to, Kylian Mbappe, thrived at his first club Monaco for the first two seasons of his career.