Southampton FC: Joe Aribo and Will Smallbone react to big Nathan Tella achievement | OneFootball

Southampton star Nathan Tella was one of the most dangerous Championship players during a season-long loan spell with Burnley in the 2022/23 campaign.

The wideman provided 17 goals and five assists for Vincent Kompany's men last campaign, helping the Clarets to the Championship title with a remarkable points tally of 101.

But during his memorable spell at Turf Moor, his parent club had a season to forget, as they finished rock-bottom of the Premier League, ending an 11-season stint in the top-flight.

Tella initially returned to St Mary's at the beginning of the 2023/24 campaign, and provided an assist as the Saints defeated Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 on the opening day of the season.

He would go on to make three appearances for Russell Martin's men in August, scoring a goal as his side beat Plymouth Argyle 2-1 at Home Park.

But the ace joined Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen, making his first appearance for Xabi Alonso's side in a crushing 5-1 win over SV Darmstadt on 2nd September.

Upon joining Leverkusen, Tella would not have anticipated the incredible achievement he would go on to make during his loan spell in Germany.

Tella is a top-flight champion

On Sunday afternoon, Leverkusen hammered Werder Bremen 5-0 courtesy of a Victor Boniface penalty, a special strike by Granit Xhaka and a Florian Wirtz hat-trick.

This victory saw Alonso's men crowned Bundesliga champions, ending Bayern Munich's dominance by preventing the Bavarian outfit winning their 12th consecutive league title.

Impressively, Leverkusen have won the title with five games to spare, as they hold a 16 point gap over Thomas Tuchel's Munich, who they defeated 3-0 back in February.

Tella played his part in guiding Leverkusen to their first ever Bundesliga title, scoring five goals and creating two assists in 20 appearances and just five starts.

Despite their stunning campaign to date, the best could still be yet to come for Alonso and co, who could still win a treble as they hold a 2-0 lead from the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final with West Ham, and look likely to book themselves a place in the semi-finals, while they are also favourites to win the DFB Pokal, as they face Bundesliga 2 outfit Kaiserslautern in the final on 25th May.

Meanwhile, as his side have already won the title, Alonso could look to rotate his squad in league fixtures in the coming weeks, which could see Tella named in his starting 11 more often.

Joe Aribo and Will Smallbone react to Tella's achievement

Following Leverkusen's title triumph, the winger took to Instagram to express his delight as his team were crowned champions of Germany.

Tella captioned his post: "SG1 to Bundesliga.

"Glory be to God.

"What a team!

"Thank you for everything, we want more of that!"

Current Saints stars Will Smallbone and Joe Aribo both shared their congratulations with their team mate, with Aribo commenting: "insane", while Smallbone showed his pride for Tella with emojis.

Meanwhile, Tella's parent club commented: "congratulations, Tells!", and England women's star Leah Willamson was also among those to comment on the ace's post.