Southampton's Nathan Tella sets his sights on featuring for the Super Eagles internationally

SOUTHAMPTON midfielder Nathan Tella has become the latest diaspora-born footballer to pledge his international future to Nigeria after revealing that he dreams of lining up for the Super Eagles one day.

Tella, 22, born in England to Nigerian parents, started his career at Arsenal before joining Southampton in 2017. On January 6 2022, Tella, who has scored one goal in his 28 appearances for the Saints, signed a new three-and-a-half contract with Southampton, which will see him remain at the club until 2025.

Buoyed on by the recent Nigerian victory over Egypt at the ongoing African Cup of Nations, Tella said it would be a dream to wear the famous green and white colours of Nigeria. No doubt, the popularity of Egypt’s captain Mohamed Salah drew the attention of many Premier League watchers to Nigeria’s first group game of the tournament, with the Liverpool star expected to run riot in the match.

However, the Super Eagles produced an excellent performance to shock the seven-time African champions the Pharaohs and their iconic talisman. Tella admits he has been keeping tabs on the tournament because of Nigeria and his Southampton teammate Moussa Djenepo, who was in action when Mali defeated Tunisia in their opening game.

Tella is eligible to feature for Nigeria and will not be entangled by any of the change of nationality processes that the likes of Ademola Lookman are currently going through because he has never played for any of England’s youth teams. Inspired by the exploits of Che Adams with Scotland at the Euros last year, Tella is convinced he can become a better player by representing Nigeria.

“I would love to play international football, as that’s always been a dream of mine. If I went away with Nigeria, it would be something new and new experiences bring out the best in players.

“When I look at Che, I see that he has come back from Scotland as a more mature player. There is no reason why I can’t do that, come back a more mature person. Whatever happens in the future, I am just focussed on being here and, yes, trying to score goals and help the team win and progress.”

Having played anywhere from striker to right-back for the Saints this season, Tella boasts a versatility that could be an advantage for the handlers of the Nigerian national team. It, however, would be difficult to get a call-up to the Super Eagles as Tella would be up against a lot of stiff competition.