Burnley will regret transfer near miss but ex-Southampton player certainly won't: View | OneFootball

Burnley missed out on Nathan Tella last summer but he's enjoyed great success with Bayer Leverkusen

As first seasons at a new club go, Nathan Tella's time at Bayer Leverkusen couldn't have got off to a better start.

The 25-year-old joined the German side from Southampton last summer after impressing at Burnley during their 2022/23 Championship title-winning campaign, and he helped Xabi Alonso's side to a league and cup double, which saw Leverkusen go unbeaten in German football.

Leverkusen lost one game all season, which came in the Europa League final, so while they may have missed out on an historic treble-winning campaign, it was still a first season to remember for the Hertfordshire-born attacker.

However, it could have been all so different, and Tella recently revealed that he expected to return to Burnley for the 2023/24 campaign prior to his surprise move to Germany.

Burnley will have huge regret over Nathan Tella transfer miss

Tella played an instrumental role in the Clarets' title-winning campaign, playing 45 games in all competitions for Vincent Kompnay's side, scoring 19 goals and registering five assists as Burnley finished with a whopping 101 points.

The Southampton loanee rightfully received praise and won a number of individual accolades as he was selected in the PFA Team of the Year, the EFL Championship Team of the Season, and he won the Fans' Player of the Month award for March 2023.

Given his performances, it was no surprise that Burnley were keen to bring him back to Turf Moor on a permanent basis, but despite their interest, they were unable to secure a permanent deal for the attacker as they were priced out of a deal.

Burnley were relegated in Tella's absence after finishing 19th, and while he may not have been able to keep them up, he certainly would have made a big difference to their chances.

Everyone at the club could only watch as Tella helped Leverkusen record a domestic double in Germany, and Burnley supporters certainly can't be blamed for thinking about what could have been.

Things could have been so different for both Burnley and Tella, and whilst the Clarets are preparing for life in the second tier, Tella is preparing for life in the Champions League.

Nathan Tella will be delighted that he ended up at Bayer Leverkusen

Tella may have only started eight Bundesliga games for Leverkusen last season, but he still played an important role in their historic campaign.

Xabi Alonso forked out £20million to bring him to Germany, and he helped repay the faith with his performances, playing 39 games in total.

Speaking about his move to Leverkusen on the Rising Ballers podcast, Tella said: "To be honest I thought I was going back to Burnley.

“But then the Leverkusen interest came in and I was kind of like ‘I don’t know how that interest came about, but I don’t really want to be scared to leave England’. I told myself ‘I want to do this’.

“I was able to go to Germany. At the start it was quite hard for me because it was a new language and a new culture, so at the start I was asking myself how did I get here? Why am I here? And how much am I going to play? They were the three main factors in my head.

“But speaking to the players and the manager about how I’ll fit into the team and how we’ll play, once I understood what he wanted to do I adapted and adjusted to living abroad.”

It was a brave decision by Tella to leave English football at a young age, and it's certainly paid off, with his six goals and five assists helping Alonso's side complete the double.

In the Bundeliga, Tella was often used as an impact sub, but towards the end of the season, he began to start on a more regular basis, and there's no reason why that won't be the case when the 2024/25 season gets underway in August.

Had he remained in England, Tella could well be playing Championship football for Burnley now or be playing in a Southampton side likely to struggle in the Premier League next season.

Instead, he has two major trophies on his CV and will be playing in the Champions League. It was a bold decision to move to Germany, and a permanent move to Burnley failing to materialise has proved a blessing in disguise for Tella.