Manchester United face competition from Arsenal for Bayern Munich star | OneFootball

It has been a rollercoaster winter transfer window for Mathys Tel at Bayern Munich. After having positive talks with the club hierarchy and Vincent Kompany at the start of January, Tel decided to stay in Munich. However, lack of game time during January has forced the young striker to rethink and look for a move away from Bavaria.

Tel rejected a move to Tottenham Hotspur even though the English club had agreed a fee of €60 million with Bayern. The French forward was left out of the squad for the game against Holstein Kiel as he is evaluating his options ahead of Monday’s deadline day.

Despite rejecting Spurs, it does look like direction of travel for Tel will be to the Premier League if he decides to leave Bavaria. According to The Guardian and The Independent in England, Arsenal and Manchester United are fighting for Tel’s signature.

Arsenal are looking to strengthen their attack after injuries to Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus. The North London side is interested in a loan deal for Tel. They are also interested in Aston Villa forward Ollie Watkins after having a bid rejected earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Manchester United want to strengthen the attack after Marcus Rashford agreed a loan move to Aston Villa. The Red Devils have a long-standing interest in Tel, as they had touched base with his agents before the French forward signed a new deal at Bayern last March.

With both Premier League sides interested in loan deals, Tel has a decision to make over the next 24 hours. It remains to be seen if Bayern will be open to insert an option to buy in the deal. Christian Falk of SportBild has reported that the Bavarian club is open to considering permanent offers for Tel.

Christoph Freund refuses to rule out Mathys Tel staying at Bayern

Even though it is likely that Tel will leave Bavaria before the end of the transfer window, Bayern are not ruling out the possibility of the French forward staying in Munich until the end of the season.

While talking to the media on Saturday after the game against Holstein Kiel, sporting director Christoph Freund insisted that Tel staying at Bayern is a concrete possibility. The French forward will return to the matchday squad for the game against Werder Bremen next weekend if a deal doesn't materialize on Monday.

Freund also admitted that Bayern would not sign a forward if Tel ends up leaving on Monday. The record Bundesliga champions had interest in Chelsea’s Christopher Nkunku, but the overall package was expensive. Bayern will strengthen the attack in the summer with Florian Wirtz at the top of their transfer targets.