Thomas Tuchel made key decision involving Chelsea target Mathys Tel that enraged Bayern Munich legend, ‘slap in the face’ claim made

And it now looks like one of his former players at Bayern Munich, Mathys Tel, could join his ex-club this month.

Tel has become of interest to Chelsea as they weigh up strengthening their attack during this transfer window.

Tel is not a regular starter at Bayern right now, which was also the case last season. Under Tuchel, the winger only made six starts in the Bundesliga, and it is fair to say that one legend of German football was not happy with his compatriot’s use of the Frenchman.

Lothar Matthaus questioned Thomas Tuchel for his use of Mathys Tel

Bayern and Germany hero Lothar Matthaus is a huge fan of Tel, believing that he should have been used more often last season.

After Tuchel’s decision to leave Tel out of the team for one game in the previous campaign, Matthaus went on quite the rant and claimed that Tuchel’s treatment of the 19-year-old was a bit of a “slap in the face”.

In an interview with Abendzeitung Munich last February, the former World Cup winner said: “Before the Bochum game, I thought about why this young player, who always performed when he came in, didn’t actually get more playing time. Tel has received a lot of praise from Tuchel, but praise alone is not what the player wants, he wants playing time.

“When I saw the line-up in Bochum, I was amazed. Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman are injured, Leroy Sane is injured, I need speed on the wing and suddenly Jamal Musiala and Thomas Muller are playing on the wing — but that would have been a game for Tel.

“If three players are out, it’s a slap in the face for a young player when the second centre-forward [Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting] is preferred and Musiala and Muller play in positions that they might not necessarily want to play in.

“That’s nothing against Thomas Tuchel, he sometimes just has a different attitude to players and positions than I do, but according to my football mind, Tel shouldn’t have played until the last quarter of an hour.”

Unfortunately for Tel, under Vincent Kompany, not much has changed. This term, he has only made two starts in the Bundesliga at this stage of the campaign.

Tel likes playing on the left, though he is quite versatile. But that has not helped him to win a place in Kompany’s starting XI.

Mathys Tel could face same problem at Chelsea

You would not blame Tel if he wanted to leave Bayern, then. But a move to Chelsea may not necessarily solve the issue.

There, he is going to have to compete against the likes of Jadon Sancho, Noni Madueke and Pedro Neto, who are not bad attackers, to get into Enzo Maresca‘s team.

All in all, if Tel’s desire is to become a regular starter, then a switch to Chelsea may not be the way to go for the France U21 international.