- Mathys Tel apologised after committing a social media faux pas on Thursday
- The 19-year-old joined Tottenham on loan from Bayern Munich last month
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off! Are Liverpool fans right to lambast Trent Alexander-Arnold?
Mathys Tel was forced to delete a social media post and apologise to supporters after the Tottenham forward inadvertently drew the ire of the club’s fanbase.
The teenager’s deadline day move on loan from Bayern Munich in the January window was viewed as a major coup given his impressive performances for the Bavarian giants.
However, despite the fanfare surrounding his arrival in north London Tel is yet to find the net in the Premier League and his latest social media post has done little to endear the French youth international to the Spurs faithful.
On Thursday, Tel shared a series of images to his Instagram account, including one of him wearing a shirt bearing the name and number of Fulham star Willian.
The post prompted an immediate backlash from supporters online, with Willian having previously plied his trade for Spurs’ bitter rivals Arsenal.
To make matters worse, the Brazilian had been scheduled to join Tottenham from Anzhi Makhachkala in the summer of 2013 during Andre Villas Boas’ reign at the club.
Mathys Tel hastily deleted a social media post after drawing the ire of the club’s supporters
Tel posted a photo of him wearing a shirt with the name of ex-Chelsea and Arsenal star Willian
After completing a medical ahead of a move to Tottenham, Willian ultimately had a last-minute change of heart, and instead went on to join Chelsea where he would go on to win two Premier League titles during a seven-year stint.
The 36-year-old would later describe snubbing Spurs as the ‘best decision’ of his career.
‘I wasn’t sure about Chelsea,’ Willian told the club’s website in 2022.
‘They’d shown interest but it wasn’t so firm at first. Chelsea came on the day I was going to sign the contract with Spurs. I was at Tottenham’s training ground to finalise the deal when the call came. My agent said to me, “Chelsea just called me and they want you”. I said, “OK, I want to go there!”
‘Then I left the training ground and went back to the hotel. It was a difficult situation because I’d agreed more or less to join Spurs, but in my mind was only Chelsea.
‘Once the deal between Anzhi and Chelsea was agreed, I only wanted to go there. It was the best decision of my career.’
As such, Tel’s photo proved hugely controversial among Spurs fans, with one writing: ‘Is Mathys Tel on a wind up?’
Another added: ‘This club, No leaders at all, worst season I’ve ever seen, players liking posts of a player that scored and beat us & now tel wearing a Judas shirt get rid of all.’
The move proved to be controversial among a section of the Spurs fanbase on social media
Tel later deleted the post and apologised, admitting he was not aware of Willian’s association with Tottenham’s rivals
A number of Spurs fans leapt to Tel’s defence, noting that the teenager would have been just eight years old at the time of Willian’s snub.
The post was swiftly taken down with Tel later explaining in an Instagram comment that he was not aware of the contentious history.
He wrote: ‘Ahaha sorry my bad guys I didn’t know.’
Tel has made seven appearances in all competitions since joining Spurs and netted his first goal for the club in an FA Cup fourth round defeat to Aston Villa last month.
Ange Postecoglou’s side return to action on April 3 as they travel to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea.