
It’s all changing at Tottenham Hotspur at the moment.
Ange Postecoglou may have led the club to their first trophy in a generation, but a 17th-place finish in the Premier League was enough for Daniel Levy and Co to send him on his way.
In his place, former Brentford manager Thomas Frank has been tasked with dramatically improving the club’s domestic form next season, and one way to make that happen is by adding genuine quality to the squad.
Fortunately, recent reports suggest the North Londoners may be closing in on a signing who’d be a more exciting addition to the team than Mathys Tel.
Tottenham transfer news
The transfer window may have only just opened again, but Spurs have recently been linked with many talented attackers, such as Bryan Mbeumo and Yoanne Wissa, who thrived under Frank’s management.
Moreover, to ensure the squad aren’t left short on numbers in attack next year, Levy and Co have also re-signed Tel on a permanent transfer.
The young Frenchman did well enough in spells last season, and the potential is certainly there, but based purely on what we saw from him this year, it’s hard to describe his £30m signing as particularly exciting.
The good news is that the Lilywhites now appear to be advancing in talks to sign someone who certainly would be an exciting signing: Antoine Semenyo.
According to a recent report from TEAMtalk, the Spurs are incredibly interested in the Bournemouth star and are ‘growing in confidence in striking a deal’ with the South Coast side.
The report does not mention how much the Ghanaian international could cost the North Londoners, but reports from earlier this month claim that a fee of up to £70m should be enough.
Now, that is certainly a lot of money, but given Semenyo’s ability and experience, it’d be worth it for Spurs, especially as he’d be a more exciting signing than Tel.
Why Semenyo would be a more exciting signing than Tel
Okay, so the first thing to address is that Semenyo has an inherent advantage here in that the newest attacking signings are going to be more exciting than a club re-signing someone they’ve had on loan before purely for the fact that they’ll represent something fresh and relatively unknown.
However, while this is undoubtedly the case here, there are other significant reasons why the Bournemouth star would be a far more exciting addition to the team than Tel, starting with their output.
In 20 appearances for the North Londoners, totalling 1257 minutes, the Sarcelles-born attacker was able to score three goals and provide a single assist, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every five games, or every 314.25 minutes.
In stark contrast, the Cherries ace scored 13 goals and provided seven assists in 42 appearances, totalling 3562 minutes, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 2.1 games, or every 178.1 minutes.
Moreover, while the Frenchman can play off the left or up top relatively easily, the Chelsea-born ace can play off either flank, up top or even in midfield, thanks largely to the fact he’s ambipedal.
Finally, on top of everything else, the 25-year-old “monster,” as dubbed by respected analyst Ben Mattinson, also comes out way on top when we take a look under the hood at their underlying numbers.
For example, he comes out on top in almost all relevant metrics, such as non-penalty goals plus assists, shot and goal-creating actions, key passes, successful take-ons and many, many more, all per 90.
Semenyo vs Tel |
||
---|---|---|
Statistics |
Semenyo |
Tel |
Non-Penalty G+As |
0.45 |
0.23 |
Progressive Passes |
3.06 |
2.31 |
Progressive Carries |
3.93 |
2.62 |
Shots |
3.51 |
2.47 |
Shots on Target |
1.12 |
0.85 |
Passing Accuracy |
73.4% |
74.4% |
Key Passes |
1.29 |
1.15 |
Passes into the Final Third |
1.38 |
1.31 |
Passes into the Penalty Area |
1.26 |
1.38 |
Live Passes |
29.5 |
27.8 |
Shot-Creating Actions |
3.71 |
2.47 |
Goal-Creating Actions |
0.37 |
0.31 |
Successful Take-Ons |
1.94 |
1.62 |
Ball Recoveries |
4.44 |
3.62 |
Aerial Duels Won |
1.85 |
0.38 |
All Stats via FBref for the 24/25 EPL Season |
Ultimately, while Tel is a talented player who could develop into something special, Semenyo is streaks ahead of him and would be a far more exciting signing for Spurs.

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