Southampton were always going to lose high-earning players but also high-value players following their relegation to the Championship earlier in 2023 because they needed to balance the books.
The loss of top flight television money created a big dent in their finances, regardless of parachute payments coming in through the door, and that led to faces such as James Ward-Prowse and Tino Livramento exiting before the September 1 transfer deadline.
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.
Tella was pushed immediately into Alonso’s matchday squad upon his arrival in Germany, coming off the bench in their 5-1 thrashing of Darmstadt in the 72nd minute.
The 24-year-old attacker has struggled to find game time in Germany’s top flight so far, appearing as an unused substitute in matches against Bayern Munich and Mainz, but he did gain minutes as a substitute against Heidenheim and FC Koln, appearing on the right wing in both of those matches.
