Nathan Adewale Temitayo Tella (born 5 July 1999) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for club

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Career

Early career

Nathan Tella grew up in

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

, Hertfordshire and was educated at Edwinstree middle school and then

Freman College Freman College is an upper school and sixth form with academy status in Buntingford, Hertfordshire, England. It was established as Ward Freman School in either 1970 or 1971 and became Freman College in 1999. It is named after the late Elizabeth ...

, both in the town of

Buntingford Buntingford is a market town and civil parish in the district of East Hertfordshire and county of Hertfordshire in England. It lies next to the River Rib and is located on the historic Roman road, Ermine Street. As a result of its location, it ...

. He left following his GCSE Exams in 2015. After ten years with

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, Tella spent time on trial at

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

and Norwich City before joining

in April 2017.

Southampton

In July 2019, he extended his contract with the club for a further year, before signing a further three-year extension in July 2020. On 19 June 2020, Tella made his senior debut as a substitute in Southampton's 3–0 win over Norwich City. On 11 February 2021, he made his first goal contribution by providing an assist to

Stuart Armstrong Stuart Armstrong (born 30 March 1992) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Southampton and the Scotland national team. Armstrong began his professional career with Dundee United, making his debut in 2010 and ...

's goal in a 2–0

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

fifth round win against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. On 23 February, Tella made his first

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

start in a 3–0 defeat to Leeds United. On 15 May, Tella scored his first Premier League goal in a 3–1 win against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

. On 6 January 2022, Tella signed a new three-and-a-half contract with Southampton, which will see him remain at the club until 2025.

Burnley (loan)

On 11 August 2022, Tella joined Burnley on a season-long loan. On 11 February 2023, he scored a first career hat-trick in a 3–0 victory over

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

, his side's tenth consecutive league victory, and a month later scored a second hat-trick in a 3–1 victory over Hull City.

Personal life

Born in England, Tella is of Nigerian descent.

Career statistics

Honours

Burnley *

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Individual * PFA Championship Fans' Player of the Month: March 2023 * EFL Championship Team of the Season:

References

External links

Profile on Southampton F.C. website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tella, Nathan 1999 births Living people People from Stevenage Footballers from Hertfordshire English footballers English sportspeople of Nigerian descent Men's association football midfielders Arsenal F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Black British sportsmen