Dealing with rejection is one of the toughest aspects of being a footballer, especially when you’re young.
When Nathan Tella was released by Arsenal at the age of 17, the winger didn’t know what to do next with his career.
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He was part of the famous Hale End Academy for ten years and grew up alongside rising stars such as Reiss Nelson and Emile Smith Rowe.
But opportunities were few and far between, and Tella was forced to make a name for himself elsewhere. Speaking to Vavel in 2022, Tella said: “I couldn’t believe it, Arsenal was all I knew since I was discovered at 6 years old.
“It was a bit embarrassing for me because I didn’t know how to tell all my friends and family that I was leaving Arsenal.
“It was tough because I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Maybe stay at Arsenal, try to force them to make a different decision or whether I should take part in trials.
“I talked to my family, I talked to my agent and they said the best thing would be to go to tryouts to see what I can do and get out of my comfort zone.
“I had trials in Reading, Norwich and finally Southampton. Now things are going well, I’m really enjoying it.”
Moving from one prestigious academy to another showed the true talent Tella possessed. Southampton’s track record of producing stars is well documented, as evidenced by the likes of Adam Lallana, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Gareth Bale.
But the Premier League is a tough place for a young player even at the best of times, and before Southampton were relegated in 2023, he moved on loan to Championship club Burnley.
Finally, after 32 appearances in two seasons in the top flight for St. Mary’s, Tella was given a new lease of life and led the Clarets to the league title.
With his 17 goals in 39 league games, Vincent Kompany’s team stormed to victory as top scorer and helped Burnley to 101 points.
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But at the end of the rainbow, a bigger prize awaited Tella, who left Southampton on a permanent contract in the summer of 2023 to try something different – life abroad.
Bayer Leverkusen decided to snap up the striker during an ambitious transfer window when they bought Granit Xhaka from Arsenal.
The two players who might have met in the Arsenal squad in 2016 became Leverkusen’s two most expensive signings this summer: Xhaka arrived for £21.5 million and Tella for £20 million.
Before moving to the Bundesliga, Xhaka played for Arsenal for seven years, making 297 appearances and winning two FA Cups in 2017 and 2020.
The Swiss international endured a rollercoaster ride at the Emirates, where he was stripped of his captain’s armband but fought back and earned the love of the Arsenal fans.
Under manager Mikel Arteta, he found a new role that allowed him to venture further forward, and this contributed to his highest-scoring 2022/23 season, in which he scored nine times in all competitions – more than in his previous four seasons combined.
And the Gunners have been told they are missing the midfielder as statistics show his influence in Germany.
But Tella thought he would return to Turf Moor. Speaking to Rising Ballers, he recalled: “But then the interest came from Leverkusen and I thought to myself: ‘I don’t know how this interest came about, but I don’t want to be afraid of leaving England.’ I said to myself: ‘I want to do this.’
“I was able to go to Germany. At the beginning it was quite difficult for me because it was a new language and a new culture. So at the beginning I asked myself how I got here. Why am I here? And how much will I play? Those were the three main factors in my mind.
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“But after talking to the players and the coach about how I would fit into the team and how we would play, once I understood what he had in mind, I adapted and adjusted to life abroad.”
Alex Grimaldo, Victor Boniface and Jonas Hofmann also moved to Leverkusen and experienced a historic season there in which they won the Bundesliga for the first time, and remained undefeated.
Harry Kane had also left the Premier League, moving from Tottenham to Germany. He was strongly expected to end his trophy-curse machine and win the league with the Bavarian giants.
But Leverkusen achieved the impossible and ended the dominance of Bayern, who had won the championship trophy every year since 2012.
In fact, Kane ended up without a trophy again, as Munich were eliminated in the first round of the DFB Cup against a third division team and also lost in the semi-finals of the Champions League against Real Madrid.
Xhaka was a crucial part of Xabi Alonso’s well-oiled machine and only Grimaldo (51) played more games than the midfielder (50).
Tella, a bunch of boys
Tella told Arsenal.com about his memories of playing alongside one of the best young players around…
“Even now when I talk to my friends, family and people in football, I always say that the team I was in at Arsenal was one of the most talented age groups ever.
“So many players have come through and had careers at all sorts of levels and I think we all did really well but that doesn’t surprise me one bit. We were a really talented group working under some really good coaches. I’m still so grateful to have spent my youth career at Arsenal.
“I’m still in touch with some of the guys and I’m looking forward to getting back together with Eddie and Reiss when I get back. I’ve always been paying attention to how they’re doing, whether they’ve played and whether they’ve scored a goal over the weekend.”
With his breathtaking goal, Bayer secured the DFB Cup and completed the miraculous double by defeating second division side Kaiserslautern in the final.
As for Tella, the 25-year-old made 39 appearances in total, scoring six goals; he also made his debut for Nigeria last season.
What the future holds for the speedy striker remains to be seen, but as a Bundesliga champion he will never have to embarrass himself again.
Both will be well received when the Bundesliga champions travel to the Emirates for a pre-season match on August 7.
“It definitely feels like a homecoming for me,” he told the Arsenal website. “I’m still an Arsenal fan and I always pay attention to Arsenal’s results. The club means a lot to me.”
“Obviously I gained some experience here playing against Arsenal at Southampton, but to have the opportunity to come back here again is a really big thing for me. It’s a full circle experience for me. I grew up here watching all the games and dreaming of being able to play here one day. It obviously didn’t work out for me at Arsenal, which hurt at the time, but there’s a silver lining to everything and I’m so grateful for what Arsenal gave me as a kid.”
Tella may have been embarrassed at first, but he has learned not to let things he perceives as negative affect him as he returns “home” with a title winner’s medal around his neck.
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