I felt embarrassed after Arsenal exit, but then won the league alongside Granit Xhaka and am back at Emirates as title winner

Confronting the experience of being rejected is one of the most challenging aspects of being a football player, particularly when you are young.

After being released by Arsenal at the age of 17, the winger Nathan Tella was at a loss for what to do next in his career. He was unsure of what he wanted to accomplish.

Over the course of ten years, he had been a student at the renowned Hale End academy, where he had the opportunity to develop alongside rising players such as Reiss Nelson and Emile Smith Rowe.

Nevertheless, prospects were scarce, and Tella was compelled to establish a name for himself in a different setting. As Tella was being interviewed by Vavel in the year 2022, she stated, “I couldn’t believe it, Arsenal was all I knew from the time I was six years old when I was scouted.”

It was a little bit embarrassing for me since I didn’t know how I was going to break the news to all of my friends and family that I was leaving Arsenal.

“It was challenging since I was unsure of what I wanted to do with my life. If I were to go out on trials, I might choose to remain at Arsenal, try to force their hand and make another decision, or either of these options.

“I talked to my family, and I talked to my agent, and they both told me that it would be better for me to run trials to see what I am capable of doing and to move out of my comfort zone.

Reading, Norwich, and eventually Southampton were the places where I tried out for the position, and now that I’m here, I’m really enjoying it.

The fact that Tella transitioned from one prestigious academy to another demonstrated the actual skill that he possessed. Southampton’s track record of generating stars is well established, with players like Adam Lallana, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Gareth Bale being examples of players who have been produced by Southampton.

But even in the best of circumstances, the Premier League is a challenging environment for a young player, and in 2023, before Southampton was demoted to the Championship, he joined Burnley on loan. Burnley was playing in the Championship at the time.

Tella finally blossomed into her full potential after making 32 appearances in the top tier over the course of two seasons at St. Mary’s, ultimately leading the Clarets to victory in the Championship.

As a result of his 17 goals scored in 39 Championship matches, Vincent Kompany’s team was able to achieve victory and become the season’s top goalscorer, which contributed to Burnley accumulating 101 points.

Prior to making the move to the Bundesliga, Xhaka had spent seven years with Arsenal, during which time he had made 297 appearances and emerged victorious in two FA Cups, in 2017 and 2020.

During his time at the Emirates, the Switzerland international experienced a rollercoaster ride, during which he was stripped of the captaincy but fought back to earn the love of the Arsenal fans.

He discovered a new role that allowed him to venture more forward under the direction of manager Mikel Arteta, and this was a contributing factor to his highest goalscoring performance in 2022/23, in which he scored nine times across all competitions, which was more than he had scored in any of his previous four seasons combined.

And it has been communicated to the Gunners that they are missing the midfielder, with statistics demonstrating the level of impact he possesses in Germany.

Tella, on the other hand, was under the impression that he was going to return to Turf Moor. When he was asked about it by Rising Ballers, he said, “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.'” “This is something I want to do,” I assured myself.

I was able to travel to Germany this time. My initial experience was rather challenging due to the fact that I was learning a new language and a new culture. As a result, I found myself wondering how I had arrived at this point in time. How come I am here? And to what extent am I going to participate? They were the three most important considerations in my mind.

After gaining an understanding of what he wanted to accomplish, I was able to adapt and adjust to living in a foreign country by having conversations with the players and the manager about how I will fit into the squad and how we will play against one other.

In addition, Alex Grimaldo, Victor Boniface, and Jonas Hofmann relocated to Leverkusen, where they would go on to have a historic season when they would not only win the Bundesliga for the first time ever but also go through the season without suffering a single loss.

Harry Kane had also departed the Premier League for Germany, joining Bayern Munich from Tottenham. It was widely anticipated that he would break his trophy hoodoo by winning the league with the Bavarian giants. Kane had previously played for Tottenham.

Leverkusen, however, has accomplished the seemingly impossible by putting an end to Bayern’s domination, which has resulted in them winning the Meisterschale every year since 2012.

In point of fact, Kane ended up being unable to win a title once more as Munich was eliminated from the DFB-Pokal Cup in the early rounds by a team from the third division. Additionally, they were defeated by Real Madrid in the semi-final portion of the Champions League.

Only Grimaldo played more matches than the midfielder (50), and Xhaka was an essential component of Xabi Alonso’s well-oiled engine. Grimaldo played 51 matches more than the halfback.

It was his incredible goal that led Bayer to victory in the DFB-Pokal Cup final, which they won by defeating Kaiserslautern, a team from the second division. This gave Bayer the opportunity to complete a spectacular double.

Regarding Tella, the 25-year-old player made a total of 39 games, during which he scored six goals. Additionally, he made his debut for Nigeria during the previous season.

Whatever the future may contain for the flying forward is still unknown, but now that he has won the Bundesliga championship, he will never again have to feel embarrassed.

When the Bundesliga champions come to the Emirates to play a preseason game on August 7th, both will be given warm welcomes because of their achievements.

In an interview with the Arsenal website, he stated, “It unequivocally feels like a homecoming for me.” Because I am still a fan of Arsenal, I make it a point to keep track of the team’s game results. I have a lot of respect for the club.

“It goes without saying that I had a few experiences here when I was at Southampton playing against Arsenal, but the fact that I will get the chance to come back here again is a pretty huge thing for me. This is a true example of a turning point. My childhood was spent in this location, and I used to watch all of the games with the hope that one day I would be able to play here. Obviously, things did not go as planned for me at Arsenal, which was a source of pain at the time; but, there is a silver lining to every cloud, and I am really thankful for what Arsenal provided me with when I was a child.