Bayern Munich’s rising French striker sat down for a recent interview with Goal to discuss a number of topics which elicited some funny and surprising answers.

Amongst his notable thoughts were listing Thomas Müller as the funniest player on the team, Cristiano Ronaldo as the GOAT, and presciently naming Dayot Upamecano as the scariest and most aggressive player in training.

The most surprising comments revolve around his high praise for a player who barely had a cup of coffee at the club and left under a cloud of criticism and disappointment. None other than former Liverpool FC — and now Saudi — star Sadio Mané.

Tel initially mentions Mané as the first person he spoke to at the club and recalls the interactions warmly, “There were all the French players and Sadio Mané. Sadio Mané was a role model for me because he’s always been there for me in good and bad times, so it helped me a lot.”

But young master Tel did not stop there. When asked the tougher question of who the best player he played with was, he was back with the same answer: Sadio Mane. More specifically, Tel said: “He’s helped me a lot, last year he pushed me a lot. After training we’d go to the gym to train together. Honestly he was like a big brother to me. He helped me a lot.”

Considering all of the great players he has played beside this was an interesting choice to say the least.

If Mané helped the young man along the path to realizing his football potential, perhaps he was not a total bust after all.

On Friday, a story broke that Bayern Munich youngster could be looking to leave the club this summer.

Initially, it seems absurd to some people that the stiker would be looking to move on so soon. However, more reports have emerged and his agent did not deny the claims either.

Yikes.

Bild’s Tobi Altschäffl backed up the Friday reporting from Sky Sport’s Florian Plettenberg:

Tel caused quite a stir at the start of the season with strong joker appearances and four goals (three goals, one assist on the first five matchdays) and was therefore recommended for more playing time. But coach Thomas Tuchel (50) mostly left the crowd favorite to stew on the bench and criticized him recently.

Tuchel before the 0-1 defeat in the first leg of the round of 16 in Rome: “He lost a bit of his momentum. He’s no longer as aggressive when he comes, not even in the box.” That’s why other top European clubs see their chance to snap up the striker talent in the summer. Premier League club Manchester United is interested in him. Other clubs have also inquired about the dangerous young striker. Sky reported this on Friday evening. BILD can confirm this information.

BILD knows: He either wants to stay in Munich or leave the club completely. A loan is out of the question for Tel. He wants to hear a clear commitment or plan from the club. The Frenchman is still tied to Munich in the long term (contract until 2027). But will Tel really stay in Munich that long?

Tel’s agent, Gadiri Camara, also addressed the situation.

“Mathys loves the club, the fans, he wants to be important and win all the trophies here with a strong team. Sometimes you just need to feel like you’re on the same path. We’ll see very soon, but I’m confident. But if not, we have to consider all options because Mathys knows that he is valuable and will be a top player,” Camara told Bild.

BFW Analysis

It would not be anything out of the ordinary for Tel to want to explore other clubs where he might play more. However, the timing of this (after Tuchel’s recent criticism) makes it seem as if Tuchel’s remarks were unexpected — or worse, that the Frenchman did not take the critique all that well.

Whatever the case, add more one more player to watch during this summer’s transfer window