Ange Postecoglou makes terms of Mathys Tel's Tottenham transfer clear after star's U-turn

Ange Postecoglou says loan signing Mathys Tel will be a Tottenham player next season after charming him to sign over the phone. “I didn't bring him here for six months,” said the Aussie boss. The Bayern Munich teenager hesitated over his move to Spurs amid interest from Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United. But after a deadline day deal was thrashed out for an £8m loan, the France under-21 international is now set to make his debut in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg at Anfield on Thursday night.

And it is understood that Tel, 19, wants Spurs to take up the option for a £45m permanent deal in the summer and sign a six-year deal. Asked about next season, Postecoglou said: "He'll be a Tottenham player, mate. 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.”. The Spurs manager revealed that Tel was “more than 100 percent” committed to joining the club 14th in the Premier League following an exchange of calls of calls and messages that lasted a “couple of hours”. He laughed: “I felt that if I kept him on the phone long enough, I would wear him down!”.

The gruff Spurs manager, 59, is not always full of bonhomie in his post-match interviews but is clearly a smooth telephone operator. “I don’t think it’s smooth-talking, or selling,” he claimed. “I think there’s a real good story here which I really believe in. “I got a sense pretty early on that there was a connection there and he was hearing what he wanted to hear. 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. He’s a goal-scorer, he can take people on, he’s got speed.

“He is exciting. I’d be very surprised if there was a club that wouldn’t be interested in somebody like him." Tel can play as a No.9 or out wide. “Archie (Gray) wanted to be a central midfielder, so who knows where Mathys will end up?” said the Spurs boss. Tottenham were also interested in another French striker - Randal Kolo Muani - in January before the PSG forward decided to join Juventus. “There are plenty of people where it hasn’t worked out,” Postecoglou added. “Plenty. There’s been a couple in this window. I definitely don’t have a 100 per cent hit rate, that’s for sure.”.

Spurs still added four players to their injury-hit Spurs squad with former Lens centre-back Kevin Danso set to start against Liverpool. And Postecoglou will not risk defenders Micky van de Ven and Cristiano Romero with Radu Dragusin ruled out for the rest of the season. “We are going to keep them ticking over in training and try to make sure they are absolutely ready without any more setbacks,” he said.

Tottenham take a 1-0 lead to Anfield as they seek a first trophy since the 2008 League Cup. “We’ve had to beat both Manchester clubs to get to this point, we’ve had to beat Liverpool to be in this position now,” the Aussie added. “There’s no hiding it, a win would be massive. We’ve earned the right to make a big impact.”. Don't miss the latest Spurs news with our FREE newsletter sent directly to your inbox!.