Arsenal will tomorrow take on German Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen in their first pre season game at home at the Emirates following their return from a training tour of the USA, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
The game will be the homecoming for one cap Nigeria international winger Nathan Tella who is in the Bayer Leverkusen squad for the high profile pre season game. The 24 year old started his career at Arsenal.
Tella was released at the age of 17 after the club decided against offering him a new contract, he moved to Southampton from where he had the breakthrough that earned him a move to the German side last summer.
He won the double with the team last season, and reflecting on his career since he was let go by Arsenal, Tella who was teammate to the likes of Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson who are all in the Arsenal first team setup opened up on how he turned the disappointment into his fuel for a breakthrough.
“That was a really difficult time for me because at 17 years old, Arsenal was all I’d ever known. I’d been at the club since I was seven and all of my friends were there too, we’d grown up together and we all shared that dream of playing for Arsenal one day. But when my time at Arsenal came to an end, I knew I had to step things up and make a name for myself elsewhere”, he was quoted as saying on the official website of Arsenal.
“I told my family that I want to prove people wrong and I don’t want it to be a case of ‘oh, he’s not made it at Arsenal, so he’s not going to have a career.’ I’ve always said and believed that I could be a professional footballer. I wanted to play in the Premier League and I wanted to play against the best teams in the world. I went on a few trials and thankfully Southampton gave me the chance that I needed, but that didn’t make me relax. It made me want to work harder than ever before.
“You can’t let a ‘negative’ moment like that shape you or determine how your career is going to be. Use it as fuel to prove people wrong and make the best for yourself. Don’t take it as you not being good enough, try to reframe it and tell yourself that it might not be the right time for you. Remain positive and tell yourself that it might be a blessing in disguise and a challenge to become the best version of yourself.
“I could have allowed that moment to bring me down, but now I’m coming back to Emirates Stadium as a champion of Germany. Playing on this pitch was always my childhood dream. It’s crazy to think about really. Whatever happens in my career, I’ll always remember that”, he rounded up saying.
