Mathys Tel training incident and Harry Kane's opinion as Tottenham forced into decision

Thomas Frank surprisingly omitted young forward Mathys Tel from Tottenham's 25-man Champions League squad.

The French under-21 star arrived in north London in January, signing on loan from Bayern Munich and costing Spurs an initial £8.7m. Tel scored three goals and started often under Ange Postecoglou, and a fee of £30m made his switch permanent in June.

Since becoming a Spurs player, Tel has failed to impress. Having made two forgettable appearances off the bench under Frank in the Premier League this season, he has now not been included within the manager's Champions League cohort.

Although his immediate future in the English capital looks bleak, Tel was regarded as a world-beating talent in Germany. He earned praise from ex-Spurs hero Harry Kane and rocked the boat with some confident training ground antics, perhaps indicating that Tottenham fans have not yet seen what the 20-year-old is truly capable of.

Back in 2023, when Julian Nagelsmann was in charge at the Allianz Arena, a teenage Tel was one year into his Bayern tenure, having signed from Rennes in July 2022 for £25m. He arrived with quite the reputation after captaining France to the under-17 European Championship, and he admits that such confidence may have gone to his head.

Recalling his poor training ground habits when he first touched down in the Bundesliga, Tel told French outlet L'Equipe in 2023: "I was a bit crazy in training.

"I used to tell myself, 'Today I'll do what I want, I'll take the ball and do everything by myself.' My team-mates shouted at me. I quickly realised that I was doing something crazy."

These habits evidently subsided during his time with Bayern, and after he left for Tottenham permanently this summer, England captain Kane was quick to praise him.

"He's got great potential. Whether he's playing as a left winger or a striker, he gets into dangerous areas, he can finish the ball well and he's good one-v-one," said Kane after his Bayern side beat Tel's Tottenham 4-0 in pre-season.

"I don't want to put too much pressure on him. He's going to the Premier League, he's still extremely young, although he has a lot of experience here. He still has to develop and improve.

"He knows that and he works hard to do that. So I just want him to go and enjoy himself, have confidence, and hopefully he can shine in the Premier League."

While being left out of Spurs' European roster by Frank is a blow, Tel has been in the Premier League for less than a year, and he still has plenty of time to show off his true talent.

He could look to Djed Spence for inspiration after this setback, as the newly called-up England defender was left out of Postecoglou's initial Europa League squad last year, before being added in February and lifting the trophy alongside him.

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