Mathys Tel, itinerary of a prodigy from the Ile-de-France who escaped PSG and seduced Bayern

Seven kilometers. This is the distance that separates the Parc des Princes, whose lawn Mathys Tel will walk on Tuesday February 14, from the Jean-Lezer stadium in Montrouge (Hauts-de-Seine), where he played three years ago. Born in Sarcelles, this child from the Paris region, one of the great talents of his generation, was recruited by Bayern Munich at only 17 years old, when he had only played 79 minutes with the pros of Stade Rennais, where he finished his training without ever going through Paris Saint-Germain. From defender to striker, he played everywhere, as he progressed to explode in front of goal.

His first steps in crampons, he took them in Villiers-le-Bel (Val d’Oise), at the age of six. “He was already ahead from an athletic point of view. He exuded a certain ease while playing in a group that I always outclassed, with a very good generation including two other players signed in a professional club in training“, recalls Eric Campaner, his first coach for five years.

Training is not enough for Mathys Tel, who regularly attends the stadium after school. “His father was his favorite victim. He put him in the goal and bombarded him with powerful shots. I can guarantee you that the father had his hands on fire at the end of the torture”remembers the head of the Villiers-le-Bel football school.

Recruiters who at first “did not believe in him”

Despite his offensive qualities, Eric Campaner plays Mathys Tel in central defense. “The fields were too small for him. It gave him the opportunity to start from further away with the ball to better highlight his potential”, he justifies. At the time, his talent did not yet arouse the attention of recruiters in the region. “In Villiers-le-Bel, we don’t have any youth teams in the regional division. So if we didn’t call the recruiters, they wouldn’t come, explains the educator. We did a departmental challenge final in U10-U11, I went to see the PSG recruiters to tell them about our players and that they come and see them. Mathys gave it a try, but they didn’t believe in him. He had a try at Lille too, but he was a bit injured so he couldn’t give his best.”

Finally, Mathys Tel joined another Parisian club, Paris FC, at 11 years old. He remains there only one year before joining the National Football Institute of Clairefontaine (INF), without attracting further interest from Paris Saint-Germain. “He did not go under the radar of PSG, who had identified him well, but who preferred other profiles, explains one of his sports advisers at the Clever One agency, which manages his interests. Île-de-France is a huge basin with a lot of talent. At the time of entering pre-training, not everyone has yet developed all their qualities. When you recruit at the age of 12, there is bound to be a margin of error.

Rennes more prompt and convincing

As at Villiers-le-Bel, Mathys Tel trains as a defender at Clairefontaine during the week, but now plays as an attacker at weekends with his new club, Jeunesse d’Aubervilliers. It was then that he began to attract the attention of professional clubs. “From his first season at the INF, in 2018, at the age of thirteen, he signed a non-solicitation agreement with Stade Rennais. Their project, the interlocutors and the school side pleased his parents. Rennes knows how to do very well in this area, since the club hatches a lot of young people”, says his sports advisor. This agreement allows the Breton club to ensure that no other French club will offer a contract to Mathys Tel for three years. However, the player can only join Brittany at the age of 16, according to the regulations of the French Football Federation (FFF), residing more than 50 kilometers from Rennes.

Mathys Tel therefore continues to progress at Aubervilliers, but leaves the club in 2019, frustrated at not playing enough in national U17s, in a team that plays maintenance. He knocks on the door of Montrouge FC, without more assurance of playing time. “His agent asked me, so I meet Mathys and his parentsremembers Thomas Berlette, the coach of the club’s U17 Nationals. I explain to them that I’m meeting him because I’ve heard of him, but that we’re second in the championship, that I don’t necessarily need him, and that he may only play bits of matches. He replied that he was going to fight in training and that he would play. That’s what happened.”

Loyal, he rejects the interest of foreign clubs

At first skeptical of the idea of ​​welcoming a new teammate who was two years younger, Thomas Berlette’s players quickly understood who they were dealing with: “He was very professional in training, focused on his progress, and asked a lot of questions to improve.” underlines the coach, who is developing him as a striker. “Some Stade Rennais managers wanted me to play him in the middle, but he made differences and there was no reason to bring him down. The goal was to teach him how to move, take offensive balls and how to behave in the box.”describes the coach.

Her Montrougian period will end early with the confinement in March 2020. She will nevertheless have given time to foreign recruiters to come and observe her. “German, English or Spanish clubs offered to sign him by breaking the contract with Rennes. Only foreign clubs had the possibility, but Mathys and his family are right. They did not follow up”assures the educator.

Mathys Tel therefore joined Rennes, as a striker, in 2020, and rose through the ranks there at record speed. At 16 years and 110 days, in August 2021, he became the youngest player to wear the Breton club jersey in the league. The following ? With only 79 minutes played as a professional, Bayern Munich recruited him last summer. In September, the Francilien enters the history of the Bavarian club, becoming, against Stuttgart, the youngest scorer of the Bavarian club in the Bundesliga, at 17 years and 136 days. Author of four achievements in 17 appearances, he now dreams of scoring his first goal in the Champions League. Maybe against PSG…