There has been very little to celebrate for Tottenham Hotspur fans this season.
Ange Postecoglou’s side have been incredibly poor in the Premier League and, in the last week, have crashed out of both the League Cup courtesy of Liverpool and the FA Cup at the hands of Aston Villa.
The North Londoners were comfortably the second-best team in both games, and while there was nothing positive about the 4-0 hammering at Anfield, the fans were at least able to see new boy Mathys Tel open his account at Villa Park.
The loanee has a £45m option to buy inserted in his deal, and while fans will be hoping that it gets activated in the summer, Daniel Levy might look to one of their most exciting youth players who’s tearing it up on loan as a way to save millions on the Frenchman.
Why Spurs should sign Tel
So, if we step away from the money involved in this potential deal, why would Spurs want to sign Tel?
Well, in short, the 19-year-old gem looks like he could be a future superstar in the making, and while it’s hard to come to that conclusion from his lack of football this season, you can get a better idea of his ability from how well he played last year.
For example, despite playing just 1406 minutes of first-team football across 41 appearances for FC Hollywood, the Sarcelles-born dynamo racked up an outrageously impressive haul of ten goals and six assists.
That means that the teenage phenomenon maintained a simply unreal average of a goal involvement every 87.87 minutes.
That’s not all, though, as on top of being an incredibly dangerous attacker, the “mind-blowing” prospect, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, is also positionally versatile, so while he can certainly play on either wing, he’s just as comfortable down the middle, or as a second striker.
Appearances
33
33
13
Goals
7
5
4
Assists
5
1
1
Goal Involvements per Match
0.36
0.18
0.38
However, and this is the part fans might not want to hear, that’s the role one of their own promising loan stars has played before, and therefore, there is a chance Levy and Co see him as a cheaper alternative to Tel.
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The Spurs gem who could replace Tel
One of the few positives to come out of this season for Spurs has been the emergence and development of their younger players, be that Mikey Moore making his way from the academy to the first team or Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray taking to Premier League football like ducks to water.
However, while they understandably don’t garner as much attention from the fans or media, the Lilywhites also have several genuinely exciting talents out on loan, with Jamie Donley perhaps being the most compelling of the lot.
The 20-year-old has spent the season in East London with League One side Leyton Orient, and to say he’s thrived at Brisbane Road would be an understatement.
For example, in just 31 appearances for The O’s, the “sensational” talent, as dubbed by Kulig, has found the back of the net on five occasions and provided six assists for good measure, which comes out to an impressive average of a goal involvement every 2.81 games.
Moreover, the Antrim-born prospect grabbed the headlines over the weekend when his brilliant long-range effort bounced off the back of Stefan Ortega and into the back of the net against Manchester City in the FA Cup.
However, while he’s primarily played in attacking midfield this season, the young Englishman who’s blessed with “a left foot of pure gold” per Kulig, spent much of his time in Tottenham’s academy playing up top or as a second striker.
That means he could be viewed as a viable alternative to Tel by Levy and Co should they decide against splashing the cash on the Frenchman.
Ultimately, Spurs have an incredibly exciting homegrown talent in Donley, and they should do all they can to create a path to the first team for him, but to help the club move forward, that shouldn’t be at the expense of Tel.
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