Exclusive: Nathan Tella relishes new look Bayer Leverkusen in pursuit of African football dream with Nigeria

The new football season brings changes all round, as Nathan Tella can attest to.

Now in his third season at Bayer 04 Leverkusen, the Nigerian winger won a historic double with the German club in his debut campaign, including a maiden Bundesliga title where they went unbeaten over 34 matches.

Bayer Leverkusen may be the German champions of just two years ago, but this is a completely remoulded squad starting from square one. Most notably, coach Xabi Alonso set sail for Real Madrid in his native Spain, handing over the reigns to former Ajax and Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag.

Several key players have also departed for pastures new, from Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong to Granit Xhaka and Jonathan Tah. Yet a new coach heralds a new era, for which the 26-year-old has been eagerly anticipating throughout the off-season.

“I'm always excited to work with new managers,” Tella tells Olympics.com in London. “I feel like it's a new chance for players, a new chance for opportunities to play in the team. It's quite evident he's a good manager, otherwise he wouldn't have had a job at Ajax, he wouldn't have had the job at [Manchester] United.

“He won two trophies at United and then before he got the job at United, what he did with Ajax was incredible. For him to have the opportunity to work at Leverkusen with me, with us as a team, I'm really looking forward to it and seeing how we can take my game to the next level.”

After opening the 2025/26 season with victory in the DFB Pokal first round, Leverkusen begin their league campaign at home to TSG Hoffenheim on 23 August.

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