Nathan Adewale Temitayo Tella was born on 5 July 1999 in Stevenage, England, of Nigerian descent. He spent a decade in Arsenal's youth system before joining Southampton's academy in 2017. He made his senior Southampton debut on 19 June 2020 against Norwich City and progressed into the senior squad before a 2022-23 loan at Burnley delivered 17 league goals in 39 appearances and a place in the EFL Championship Team of the Season.
In August 2023 Bayer Leverkusen signed him for around £20 million on a five-year contract. He was part of the historic 2023-24 unbeaten Bundesliga title and DFB-Pokal-winning squad and reached the Europa League final.
Although born in England, Tella chose to represent Nigeria, debuting in November 2023 and continuing to be involved with the Super Eagles, including their AFCON 2023 final run.
Standing 1.73 m, Tella is a right-footed right winger / forward who combines technical close control, dribbling and goal-scoring instinct from wide areas — a profile Leverkusen valued for adding pace and unpredictability on the right flank in their possession-heavy system.