Film Study: Mathys Tel

Could Bayern's surplus teen help Arsenal?

There’s no question that when it comes to reputation, Mathys Tel is one of the biggest, brightest teenagers around.

The French teenager’s star has preceded him so much that Bayern Munich pulled the trigger on a €28.5 million purchase of the young striker, who at that point had played a grand total of 119 minutes for Stade Rennais’s senior team, never scoring a goal.

Tel did integrate into Bayern’s side more quickly in 2022-2023, starting twice and making 28 total appearances for just shy of 7.0 90s, during which he scored 7 goals. Last season he took another step forward, but still only made 10 total starts, ending up with 16.0 90s and 16 goal contributions, 10 goals and 6 assists.

But this season, he’s back to a slower pace, with just 401 minutes played in all competitions, with one assist. Under Vincent Kompany, he’s also only started three times, leading him to request a move away from Munich for more playing time.

The stats

It’s not every day I’ll say something like this, but stats in Tel’s case aren’t incredibly informative. Why? Mostly because he’s playing in short bursts, and usually in games Bayern are already winning. In fact, he’s averaging 30 minutes per appearance for Bayern, which is really low. And 7 of his 13 league goals for the club have come in matches where Bayern were already winning by at least three goals.

That said, here’s what his chart looks like: