13 hours ago
32
The Tottenham Hotspur attacker is back in the club's Champions League squad and has speaking about a supportive former team-mate
Mathys Tel has praised his former Tottenham captain Son Heung-min as his 'big brother' who is always texting him messages of support.
The 20-year-old Frenchman joined Spurs on loan from Bayern Munich back in January before the north London club made his move a permanent one with a £30million deal in the summer, after it was approved by his new head coach Thomas Frank. That meant Tel got to spend six months last season and in pre-season learning from Son before the 33-year-old brought a close to his time at Spurs after 454 appearances, 173 goals and captaining them to their Europa League triumph in May with a transfer to play for Los Angeles FC in Major League Soccer.
On Tuesday night Son stepped back on the turf in front of the Tottenham fans to say a proper goodbye to them before the Champions League victory against Slavia Prague and he also went into the dressing room to talk to his former team-mates.
"This means a lot for the club and for me as well because Sonny is like my big brother," said Tel. "He is always texting me, his support is always behind me. Back in the Champions League, we won and Sonny was there, so a lot of good things.
"Sonny is a big legend at Tottenham, so when a guy like Sonny comes back after he did everything, you give everything for him."
Tel was back in the club's Champions League squad for the 3-0 win against the Czech side after Spurs used a UEFA rule that allows a team to bring in a squad substitute if a player has been ill or injured for 60 days. Tel replaced Dominic Solanke, who has been out with an ankle injury since August.
It was a big week for the Frenchman after suffering the heartbreak of missing out on the initial squad due to Tottenham's bloated numbers.
"It means a lot of things. I work a lot every day, with the team and by myself," he said. "The coach took this decision. I am very happy and it means a lot to me. I’m going to keep working every day and keep going on and off the pitch.
"The club is always behind you even if I miss something or not. For me, I just keep going, whatever, if I face bad moments I will always stay ready for everything. You always have to go after something."
On the rarity of Spurs winning back-to-back games at home, Tel added: "It's good, it gives us a lot of motivation for the next games. We go again on Sunday [against Nottingham Forest]. This is a good feeling, good energy."
English (US) ·