As reported by Foot Mercato, Rennes’ 16-year-old attacker Mathys Tel is becoming widely considered as France’s newest talent. Having arrived in Brittany from Paris 18 months ago, he is breaking all the age-related records at the club.
Gadiri Camara, his advisor for the last four years and CEO of the agency Become Someone, explained that his agency discovered Mathys Tel at the age of 13, playing as a centre-back for Paris FC. Although Rennes signed Tel at 13, he had to wait for two years to leave the capital. In this time, he spent his week at Clairefontaine pre-training and his weekends playing for Aubervilliers and Montrouge.
Despite arriving at Rennes as a centre-back, “the project changed very quickly. We saw his ability to be decisive, to score goals and to make a difference,” explained Camara. “That’s what got him moved up the pitch so quickly. Today, he has such a stupefying versatility because he has the ability to adapt to any attacking or midfield role.”
While this versatility is impressive, Camara explains that it’s a double-edged sword, since “we are still having trouble finding the position where he might have the best career. Eventually, I think he will position himself as a 10, just behind the striker.”
The 16-year-old, who holds Thierry Henry as his idol, is the youngest player to have appeared in any of the top five European leagues this season, having featured in 4 Ligue 1 games, for a total of 37 minutes.
Tel has also featured in the France U18 squad, having made his debut in September of last year. Since then he has 6 international youth caps, registering 5 goals and 4 assists.
Given that Tel made his Ligue 1 debut for the same club as Real Madrid’s Eduardo Camavinga, at almost exactly the same age (16 years and 3 months vs 16 years and 4 months respectively), comparisons between the two have come naturally. But Camara explains that “they are not at all the same player, their characteristics are very different. Their assets and strengths are different, it’s not only physically that their profiles differ.”
Despite this difference, Camara explains that Camavinga remains a source of inspiration for Tel. “The idea is to impose oneself at Rennes in order to be able to set off on a greater project especially as Mathys has the ambition to realise a great career and he is working really hard to achieve that.”
Ultimately, Camara has high hopes for Rennes’ teenager. “We think he can really make it. But everything depends on so many factors. We don’t know the future. He just has to stay alert and avoid injuries. But he’s a boy of enormous talent. In 11, 12 years of football, I’ve rubbed shoulders with top players. But in terms of potential, I’ve rarely seen anything more solid.”
Mathys Tel is under contract with Rennes until June 2024, and it remains to be seen what can be achieved in the coming years.
