Bayer Leverkusen’s Nathan Tella: I Look at My Medal Every Day
Sudan Events – Agencies
When Nathan Tella’s loan period with Burnley ended in May 2023, he never expected what would happen next. After scoring 17 goals and leading Burnley to promotion to the English Premier League, amassing over 100 points, the Nigerian striker expected to return to his original club, Southampton, which had just been relegated, or to return to Burnley to play in the Premier League. Tella says when asked about his situation last summer, “Well, I definitely didn’t expect at all to be playing outside of England, and that’s the main point. But Bayer Leverkusen came with an offer to sign me as the transfer window was closing. I remember asking my dad when it happened about his opinion, and whether I should accept this offer or not, he told me this might be the perfect next step in my career. I have a very good relationship with my dad, he’s like my second agent.”
It turned out that Harry Tella was absolutely right in his view; his son shone brightly and led Bayer Leverkusen to win the Bundesliga title. Tella scored five goals in an exceptional season where Bayer Leverkusen, under the young Spanish coach Xabi Alonso, became the first team to win the Bundesliga without losing a match. Not only that, but Bayer Leverkusen also won the DFB-Pokal just days after suffering their first loss in 51 matches against Atalanta in the Europa League final. Tella says, “It was tough for all of us to go through something like that in the final, but I think as a team, we felt that the best way to compensate for the loss in that final was to win another final. So, we all had that internal motivation that we didn’t want to lose two titles in one week.”
Tella, 25 years old, took the Bundesliga winner’s medal to his home in Stevenage, and says about it, “I didn’t want to bring it back to Germany… I feel like I’m showing it off. But I have a picture of me wearing it on my phone, and I look at it every day. I have another picture of me wearing both medals around my neck, and another picture with my whole family and the Bundesliga shield.”
Tella spent 10 years at Arsenal’s youth academy before being released by the club, then joining Southampton, where he played in the same youth team alongside Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson. Tella is grateful to the coaches who supported him after learning about the club’s decision to release him. He says, “They said it was a tough decision, but they told me it might be the best thing for me, because even if I stayed, they wouldn’t be able to give me much playing time, so I’d end up feeling frustrated. They were always honest with me, and when I went for trials elsewhere, they would always check in on me, asking me what I did and if I needed anything. I never felt like they abandoned me once I left the club.”
He adds, “When I was younger, I struggled with self-confidence, but I completely overcame that as I got older. Some coaches still remember me as the shy kid who came to Arsenal and didn’t talk much to anyone, and now I’m a Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal champion.” There is no doubt that learning from Alonso—who was of interest to many top European clubs but decided to stay at Leverkusen—helped him change the way he thinks about the game. The Nigerian striker says, “He always reassured me that he wouldn’t have brought me to this club if he wasn’t absolutely sure I could add value to the team. Even when I watch other matches, I imagine myself playing against the opponent, trying to identify their strengths to nullify them.”
He adds, “Even during the last European Championship, I was trying to think about how we could play against certain teams. I think it has helped me a lot in dealing smartly with matches. Given the great success we had last year, it’s totally understandable that Alonso would attract everyone’s attention. He’s a young and amazing coach, and there are no limits to his ambitions.”
Tella played his first international match with the Nigerian national team last November, which was another reward for his patience and courage in seeking a new challenge abroad, though he admits that moving to live in Germany wasn’t easy. He says about that, “At first, I was almost like a little kid, everyone was doing everything for me, telling me where I should go, and speaking on my behalf because I couldn’t speak German. But my level of German has improved, and day by day I’ve become more capable of saying more things and understanding more things in German.”
The Nigerian star concludes, “The great thing about this club is that we have a very diverse team, we have players who speak Spanish, players who speak German, and players who speak English, but we all communicate with each other effectively. We have players from different nationalities in the dressing room, but we all have strong relationships with each other.”
