Football League World
·9 August 2023
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·9 August 2023
Nathan Tella could have had rumours about his career affect his performance on the pitch in the opening Championship weekend - though that couldn't be further from the truth.
The Southampton winger thought he had scored on the opening weekend for the Saints, though his curling effort was adjudged to have taken a slight nick off of Adam Armstrong's head - not that he would've cared, as the recently relegated side returned to winning ways late on against a beleaguered Sheffield Wednesday side.
But with Burnley having seemingly cooled their interest in their former star after rejected bids earlier in the window, Tella's future seems in the balance. Football League World takes a look at the latest news surrounding the winger.
Tella last spoke following his involvement in Southampton's win over Sheffield Wednesday on Friday, where his assist/goal in just the eighth minute of the campaign gave the Saints the lead at Hillsbrough, and effectively gave them the platform for the win.
The winger is quickly becoming one of the stars of the second-tier, and his output has shown no sign of slowing down despite rumours linking him away from the south coast - where he remained tight-lipped over his future. He told Sky Sports after the game: "Honestly, I’m just focusing on the next game. I just want to take it game by game and see what happens.
“I was trying to find Joe Aribo (for the celebration) but since I saw the manager, I had to go over to him. Since he has come in, he has given all of us a lot of confidence. It was a disappointing season last season but we have put all of that aside since he has come in and we can just focus on a brand new season.”
With the Clarets having failed to pick Tella up on a permanent deal, it remained to be seen where they would strengthen should they not sign their fan favourite.
But that could well be coming to an end, with Ajax winger Mohamed Daramy close to a move to Turf Moor, according to reports.
The Daily Mail stated on Monday that Vincent Kompany’s side are closing in on a loan with option to buy him for £13million, though personal terms still need to be agreed for the Turf Moor outfit to land the Dane.
The report states that it would be a direct replacement for Tella with Southampton not budging on their valuation of the London-born winger.
All the signs at the start of the window had pointed to Tella leaving St. Mary's, but that could be definitively proved wrong - with Alan Nixon reporting that Russell Martin is set to reward the Southampton star with a new contract to prove his worth to the club.
Southampton wanted between £15million and £20m for Burnley to secure his services on a permanent basis, but with the Clarets unwilling to pay that, Saints are ‘planning’ to give Tella a deal that reflects his newfound squad status.
An extension on his two-year-deal and a pay rise could well keep Tella happy after the club blocked his move to the Championship title holders.
Last week saw the quite bizarre TikTok, posted by Burnley owner Alan Pace’s daughter Ashlyn on social media, go viral in a bid to bring the Southampton star back to the Lancashire hills.
The video shows Ashlyn sticking posters up across Burnley’s town centre - including famous monuments such as the Town Hall, the new Burnley mural, and even the home dugout.
The poster states -“Missing! Last seen smiling – Burnley. Responds to ‘Nathan Tella baby’. Have you seen him?” - though it's unsure whether the plea has worked with a deal for Daramy in the pipeline.