How has ex-Southampton FC star Nathan Tella been getting on at Bayer Leverkusen recently? | OneFootball

Southampton were dealt a major blow at the beginning of the Championship season when star Nathan Tella departed the club.

Tella returned to the South Coast after a fabulous last campaign at Burnley, becoming a key component for the Clarets on their way to lifting the Championship title and returning to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

The 24-year-old registered 17 goals and five assists from 39 second tier games and was the sixth best goalscorer in the division.

His devastating pace and clinical edge in front of goal at Turf Moor created optimism among the Saints faithful that he could replicate those types of performances in a red and white shirt.

However, the excitement soon faded away when the winger made a surprise exit from the St Mary’s Stadium shortly into the campaign, moving to German outfit Bayer Leverkusen for a reported £20 million fee.

Tella was one of 18 departures for Russell Martin to contend with as the club had to deal with the challenges and difficulties relegation from the top-flight brings.

The exits of James Ward-Prowse, Romeo Lavia and Tino Livramento alongside Tella saw the Saints struggle to adapt to the challenge of the Championship in the opening stages, but Martin’s outfit have now found their feet and are looking like serious promotion contenders.

Here at Football League World, we update you on how Nathan Tella has performed since departing Southampton.

Nathan Tella’s performances for Southampton

The Nigerian international featured 32 times in the Premier League for Southampton but notched just one goal and two assists in that time.

After returning from Burnley, Tella would play just three times in the second tier and registered an assist on the opening night at newly-promoted Sheffield Wednesday.

The winger would go on to notch his first goal of the term in his final game against Plymouth Argyle as the Saints won two of those opening three matches.

Nathan Tella’s performances for Bayer Leverkusen

Tella has not been able to hit the ground running just yet for Die Werkself with a measly 63 minutes of action recorded from 11 Bundesliga games.

Short cameos off the bench have resulted in just a solitary goal against Union Berlin back in November, and limited opportunities in the German top-flight have stuttered his progress from his playing days back in England.

Tella has featured much more regularly in the clubs’ Europa League campaign, where they have topped the group and been victorious in all of their five outings.

The wide man has started each of those games and netted one strike in their second group game away at Molde.

Overall, it has been an underwhelming start to life in Germany for Tella, but he will continue to stake a claim for more first-team action given the significant fee Xabi Alonso’s side brought him to the club for.

Nathan Tella on social media

Tella is often a reserved person on social media, with posts on his X and Instagram accounts few and far between.

The London-born man shared posts of his first Bundesliga start and goal while celebrating his achievement of making into the Nigeria national team squad.

Tella has also reposted some impressive clips from Livramento playing for Newcastle United, with the duo sharing a close bond from their time together on the South Coast.

With a lack of updates on his pages from his time at Leverkusen, it could be perceived that he is not enjoying his football as much, and a move away from Southampton could be something he regrets in the not-too-distant future.