It has been revealed whether or not Mathys Tel can play for Tottenham Hotspur in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final. The Lilywhites will lock horns with Liverpool at Anfield on Thursday night, with a place in the final at Wembley Stadium up for grabs.
Last month, Tottenham clambered past the Premier League leaders in the first leg, with Lucas Bergvall netting a late winner to give his side a one-goal lead on aggregate. While Spurs will be without some big names in the return fixtures, Ange Postecoglou managed to strengthen his squad in the transfer window.
The North Londoners kicked off January by wrapping up a deal for Antonín Kinský before bringing in Kevin Danso and Tel on loan from RC Lens and Bayern Munich, respectively. In fact, football.london understands that Tottenham managed to insert an option-to-buy clause into the latter’s contract.
Initially, there were suggestions that Tel would join Spurs on a straight loan, but the Lilywhites pushed for a more long-term deal. Having not previously played in the Carabao Cup for another team this season, the 19-year-old forward will be eligible to play against Liverpool on Thursday night.
Speaking to reporters ahead of Tottenham’s clash against Liverpool, Postecoglou confirmed that his two new arrivals are available for selection. The Spurs boss said: “In terms of availability from last week, everyone is fine and got through okay. So no issues there. Kevin [Danso] and Mathys [Tel] are both available. They have trained and are cleared to play so they are all good.”
Postecoglou added: “Look, he’s got the attributes to play, I think, as a nine for sure, but he’s played wide really successfully as well. That’s the beauty of him coming into us, at the moment we’re going to need him probably in all of those areas because it’s fair to say, as much as we’ve got issues at the back, we’ve probably got bigger issues in the front third at the moment, we’re missing three wingers and our striker.
“I get people are still dismissing the fact that tomorrow night we’re still gonna have nine, maybe 10 first team players out of our starting line-up, so having Mathys who can play both wide and central. Richy’s doing great for us at the moment, but again he’s coming off not playing for a while and we’ve got to be really careful with him.
“Sonny’s playing all the time, we’ve got Mikey he’s a 17-year-old, we’ve got Deki who can play in there, so having him we can play either side. I reckon in the short term until we get some numbers back, I think he can fill all three roles.”
Postecoglou could very well throw Tel into the deep end, but a debut seems more likely to come later this month once he gets his feet under the table at Hotspur Way. Aston Villa host Tottenham at Villa Park for an FA Cup fourth round tie on Sunday evening.
Spurs will then lock horns with Manchester United in the Premier League the following week before playing Ipswich Town at Portman Road. The Lilywhites end the month with a highly-anticipated match against Manchester City.
football.london Spurs WhatsApp channel
Want to keep up to date with the breaking and important Tottenham stories whilst on the move? Well now you can!
Click this link to follow the football.london Spurs WhatsApp channel, where you’ll be kept up to date on the latest Lilywhites news wherever you are.
Just remember to turn on the notifications once you’ve followed, and you won’t miss a beat!
