Matys Tel sent a clear message to Roberto De Zerbi after the Tottenham Hotspur young forward scored a hat-trick for the France Under-21s on Tuesday night.
The Frenchman, who turned 21 this year, scored the second treble in his career by winning 7-1 against Switzerland in the qualifying round of the EURO under-21 football team. Tel, who captained the team, had a very productive international break, scoring five goals in four games.
Tel scored the only goal for France Under-21s in a 1-1 draw away to Iceland and also secured his country’s place at the Euros by netting the winner at home to Luxembourg. He will now return to north London in high spirits and is expected to meet up with his team-mates in the coming days.
Tel, who signed for £29.8m from Bayern Munich last summer after first signing on loan in January 2025, has already come under fair criticism for his performances in a Spurs shirt. In fairness to the former Rennes man, he was thrown into Premier League life, with Spurs struggling with both injuries and their form, and he, along with others, had to adapt to a fast and physical league as a target man.
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Tel is yet to register a goal or assist in six games for Tottenham this season and was completely left out of the matchday squad for the 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa before the international break. De Zerbi revealed it was a “technical decision” to drop him, but while Tel was disappointed, it seemed odd that he wasn’t on the bench.
The Italian boss has previously made more calls for the young forward and the manager showed his frustration at Tel on the pitch after the goalless draw with Everton.
“Yes, I trained him on the field,” said De Zerbi. “The striker’s body shape. The striker can play with his shoulder in goal. If we play with him. [James] maddison, [Mohammed] Kudus and Savio, he has to play as a striker and the striker has to look at the goal, right?
“Or on Robertson’s cross. He should stay in because he started [his career] as a striker. “Now he plays as a full-back, but he started his career as a striker.”
He added: “But I love Mathys as a player, as a guy. No problem.”
After an impressive international break, Tel will now turn his attention back to club football and hopes he can return to the matchday squad for the trip to Manchester United on Saturday. He will have a training session or two with De Zerbi and try to convince the Italian enough to be named in the traveling party and even in the starting XI.
Tel is Tottenham’s most in-form forward at the moment, but whether De Zerbi will use him is another question.