“I thought I was going back to Burnley, I enjoyed every part of my time there, the connection I built with the fans was amazing”- Nathan Tella reveals he wanted permanent move to Burnley before Bayer Leverkusen move as he praises Clarets fans

Nathan Tella has revealed he was expecting to join Burnley prior to his surprise move to Germany. The 25-year-old held talks with the Clarets over a permanent switch to Turf Moor following his successful loan from Southampton.

The winger bagged 17 goals in all competitions as Vincent Kompany’s men romped to the Championship title. The Clarets were unsurprisingly keen to bring Tella back but the club were unable to get a deal over the line.

Tella instead opted to sign for Bayer Leverkusen, a move that couldn’t have ended any better as he helped Xabi Alonso’s side claim the Bundesliga title, ending Bayern Munich’s long-time dominance.

Agonisingly, it could have been so much different, as Tella revealed in a YouTube interview with Rising Ballers.

“To be honest I thought I was going back to Burnley,” 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’. I told myself ‘I want to do this’.

Despite his decision to move elsewhere, Tella still has only good things to say about his time at Turf Moor.

“The whole season was amazing,” he said. “From my first day when I walked in, I felt like there was a lot of togetherness. The fans really rallied behind us.

“We had a lot of individual quality and we could all do it in the team as well, so it made us look even better.

“I enjoyed every part of my time there. Even off the pitch, I had so much fun with the team. On the pitch it’s easy to have fun when you’re winning but the connection I built with the fans, that was another amazing feeling for me.

“As much as the fans at Southampton showed me love, I felt like Burnley…they knew nothing about me when I went there but I felt like they really changed how they felt about me. They got me and I got them.”

Tella added: “There were a lot of people in the team that had points to prove. You had the boys who were in the team that got relegated, they were like ‘we can’t do that to the fans, they’ve had a disappointing year so we need to make it right’.

“We also had players who had signed who wanted to make sure they were worth the money the club had spent.

“In my mindset, this was sort of my last chance. If this loan doesn’t go well, what can I say about me as a footballer?

“Everyone had their own internal reasons why they wanted the season to be a success and thankfully and luckily it was.”