Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou has denied that Mathys Tel initially rejected the chance to move to the club before reversing his decision and arriving in the latter stages of the January transfer window.
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is believed to have flown to Germany towards the end of last week for face-to-face talks with Tel in the hope of signing the 19-year-old from Bayern Munich.
It was claimed that Tel had rejected a move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Manchester United and Arsenal seemingly preparing to go head-to-head for his signature in the latter stages of the winter market.
However, Man United could not come to an agreement with Bayern, while Arsenal are not thought to have lodged an offer, which opened the door for Tottenham to move back to the head of the queue.
Tel has arrived at Spurs on loan, but the Premier League club have the option to sign him on a permanent basis this summer for a fee in the region of £47.5m.
Postecoglou has firmly denied that Tel, who could make his debut in Thursday's EFL Cup semi-final second leg against Liverpool, had initially turned down a move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
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Postecoglou insists Tel did not initially reject Tottenham move
"I think people need to understand that you are talking about a 19-year-old who has to make a major decision for his career and it's not that he rejected us or rejected anyone else," Postecoglou told reporters.
"I think he just wanted to be comfortable with his decision. I don't think he wanted to be pushed in a certain direction and it's credit to him. I had a conversation with him and it was purely around the football and I think he'll find a really good place for him here."
When asked whether he believes that Tel is committed to Spurs, Postecoglou said: "Yes, 100%. I am more than 100% sure because he took so much time, was so diligent about finding out everything. He had other options so it gave me more confidence that we are getting the right kind of mentality, the right kind of player.
"He is very ambitious. He has a great self-belief and confidence. He feels he can reach the top of the game and he has chosen us which is great vindication of what we are doing."
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Postecoglou confident of keeping Tel beyond this season
When asked whether Tel would stay behind the initial loan, the Spurs boss added: "He'll be a Tottenham player, mate. He'll be a Tottenham player. I think he'll show everyone he's going to be a Tottenham player in the next six months. I didn't bring him here for six months.
"I felt that if I kept him on the phone long enough, I would wear him down. He was falling asleep by the end. I got a sense pretty early on that there was a connection there and he was hearing what he wanted to hear.
"I think it is a credit to him that, rather than just jump at what came at him, he was very thorough in the way he made his decision."
Tel has found it difficult to make his mark for Bayern during the 2024-25 campaign, failing to find the back of the net in 14 appearances in all competitions, while his record in the Bundesliga this term is one assist in eight matches.
Matt Law
