Southampton: Nathan Tella watch – How is he getting on at Bayer Leverkusen? (Updated)

Despite parachute payments pouring through the door, the loss of top flight television revenue put a serious hole in club finances, which caused players like James Ward-Prowse and Tino Livramento to leave before the transfer deadline on September 1.

One player whose future was up in the air though was Nathan Tella, who certainly had a season to remember last year, even if the club he was contracted to didn’t.

With no room in Ralph Hasenhuttl’s squad, Tella was loaned out to Burnley, where he flourished in the 2022-23 campaign, scoring 17 goals in their Championship title-winning year.

There was somewhat of an expectation that considering how well he did at Turf Moor, the Clarets would stump up the funds to bring the versatile attacker back to Lancashire on a permanent basis.

However, Southampton were unwilling to sell for anything less than their valuation, with Tella still having two years left on his contract, and eventually after haggling, Burnley moved on to other targets.

Tella started the 2023-24 season in Russell Martin’s starting 11, scoring once and assisting once in his opening three matches, but it would not be long before a surprise transfer move would emerge.

Ex-Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso, now head coach of Bayer Leverkusen of the Bundesliga, came calling, and with a £20 million fee agreed, Tella was on his way to Germany’s top flight in late August.

What did Nathan Tella say after leaving Southampton?

Having been at the Saints for a number of years after joining from Arsenal in 2017, Tella had a lot of fond memories of the south coast club, and he penned a lengthy message on Instagram upon his departure.

Making his senior debut for Southampton in June 2020, Tella made 44 appearances for the club, netting just three goals, but his season at Burnley made him a hot commodity which earned him a move to Leverkusen.