It Was An Embarrassment Leaving Arsenal - Super Eagles Midfielder

It Was An Embarrassment Leaving Arsenal - Super Eagles Midfielder

Sampson Adedeji

Nigeria's Super Eagles and Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Nathan Tella has explained how embarrassed he was when Arsenal released him, BSNSports.com.ng reports.

Tella was released by Arsenal in 2017 despite joining them at the age of 6, the club deemed him surplus to requirement.

The youngster had to go out on trials with various clubs including Reading and Norwich City, before eventually earning a contract at Southampton.

Six years later, Tella has turned things around. He joined Leverkusen for £20m over the summer, earning a five-year deal, and he’s now made his international debut.

“I couldn’t believe it, Arsenal was all I knew from the age of 6 when I got scouted,” Tella said.

“For me, it was a bit of an embarrassment because I didn’t know how I was going to tell all my friends and family that I was leaving Arsenal.

“It was tough because I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Maybe stay at Arsenal, try to force their hand and make another decision, or if I was to go out on trials.

"I spoke to my family, I spoke to my agent they said it’s best to go trials to see what I can do and get out of my comfort zone.

“I had trials at Reading, Norwich, then ultimately Southampton and it’s good now, I’m enjoying it", he told Canon.

Tella has a couple of goals in his 11 appearances (five starts) for Leverkusen since signing, despite only playing 399 minutes across those appearances.