Nathan Tella has admitted he was disappointed with Arsenal’s decision to sell Granit Xhaka to Bayer Leverkusen in the last window.
The midfielder joined the German club in July, more than a month before they signed Tella from Southampton.
Kicker state the 24-year-old is an ‘self-confessed’ Arsenal fan and that made it hard for him to accept Xhaka’s exit from the north London club.
“When Xhaka left Arsenal in the summer, it hurt me because I knew how well he had done for this team and how much the team needed him,” he said, as quoted by Kicker.
The winger was able to overcome the disappointment quickly after he sealed a move to the Bundesliga side.
On Monday, the Switzerland international admitted he wanted a new challenge and that was one of the reasons why he left Mikel Arteta’s side for Leverkusen.
Meanwhile, Tella spent last season on loan at Burnley where he managed 19 goals and five assists from 45 games, and this convinced Xabi Alonso’s side to invest on securing his services.
The former Southampton man claims he had his heart set on joining Xabi Alonso’s side after he learned about their interest in acquiring his services.
“When Sancho moved to Germany, I said: That would be cool. But when Leverkusen came, I had the thought: Should I really do that? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he added.
“It would have been stupid not to take it: last season I played in the second division, now I’m playing in the Europa League and for a team that is undefeated at the top of the table in Germany – that’s crazy.”
