“I’d have a selection headache” – Burnley strike agreement with Southampton: The verdict | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Burnley have completed the season-long loan signing of Southampton winger Nathan Tella, as confirmed via the Championship club.

The 23-year-old, who started his youth career with Arsenal, joined the Saints in 2017, progressing to the first-team set up in 2020.

Proving to excite in the glimpses that Southampton fans have seen, Tella will be hoping to kick on and impress in the Championship and gain regular minutes.

Tella has emerged as the latest component of a new-look Burnley side who will be hoping to bounce straight back to the Premier League during this second-tier campaign.

Three of our writers here at FLW have shared their thoughts regarding Tella’s arrival at Turf Moor and whether he could expect to see regular first-team minutes from the start…

Quiz: Do these 25 ex-Burnley players currently play abroad or not?

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Ben Mee

Yes No

Billy Mulley

Burnley have made some impressive signings during this summer transfer window thus far, with the addition of Tella following that trend.

A pacey, tricky winger, who has the creative abilities to thrive in the Championship, he will add real value to this Burnley side under Vincent Kompany’s stewardship.

Able to operate on both flanks, Tella will give his new manager plenty of food for thought when it comes to his next few starting XI’s.

It would be no shock to see Tella playing a role from the bench initially, as he gets up to speed with Kompany’s desired style of play.

However, the young winger undoubtedly has all the right qualities to enjoy a successful loan spell with the Clarets and bolster his chances of regular inclusion at Southampton when he returns.

Simmey Hannifin-Donaldson

It’s hard to say really.

You would think that Tella would have sought reassurances about his playing time heading to Burnley in the Championship, but given his position as a winger, you wonder where he will play.

In their opening matches of the season Burnley have played with central midfielders out wide in Bastien and Brownhill, and played them very narrowly.

As such, Tella is only likely to be a starter if they change system and switch to out and out wingers, you would have thought.

That said, the club did recently bring in another winger in Benson, though, so perhaps that is a tweak Vincent Kompany is looking at making.

Charlie Gregory

Considering that Burnley have plenty of talent in their squad, I don’t think that Tella is a guaranteed starter at Turf Moor. If I was Vincent Kompany with the team he has, I’d have a selection headache every week to be honest.

The former Manchester City man has splashed the cash and done what was needed at the Clarets. They did need their team sorting out and the players he has signed are talented and exciting to watch too. Scott Twine is a very good addition to the first-team and now even Nathan Tella has joined the Turf Moor outfit to add even more excitement and ability to the team.

Whilst the player will likely feature often – and could become a first-team regular no doubt – you’d have to be questioning who Kompany drops at the moment to play the new signing.

However, if Burnley do have injuries or suspensions, then Tella will likely come in and given his ability, he could claim a first-team spot this season.