Nathan Tella recently earned his first call-up to the Super Eagles after scoring his inaugural Bundesliga goal with Bayer 04 Leverkusen earlier this season.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen’s sporting director, Simon Rolfes, commended Tella for his ambitious attitude in the face of adversity, Sportblog247.com reports.

The 24-year-old winger joined Die Werkself from Southampton in August for a fee of approximately €18.00 million, which could rise to €23.30 million with certain performance-based clauses.

Previously, Tella played a key role for Burnley under Vincent Kompany, helping the team secure promotion to the Premier League from the EFL Championship. In 45 appearances for Burnley, he scored 19 goals and provided five assists.

At Leverkusen, Tella has found it challenging to secure a spot in Xabi Alonso’s starting lineup due to the outstanding form of Jeremie Frimpong at right wing-back and the experience of Jonas Hoffman on the right wing.

Despite these challenges, Tella has had a remarkable season, scoring 12 goals and providing seven assists across all competitions for Leverkusen.

Transitioning from the Championship last season, the 24-year-old winger is now on the verge of achieving a treble with Leverkusen, earning high praise from Simon Rolfes.

“Nathan Tella came late in the transfer window in August, and he needed time to adapt. He was always ambitious to develop himself and also to give good energy to the team and towards the team. Now he’s getting much more minutes than at the beginning of the season. That’s also a success story for himself and also for the team,” Leverkusen’s Simon Rolfes told TalkSport.

Tella has the opportunity to make history with Leverkusen in the Bundesliga today. If they avoid losing to Augsburg, they will become the first team to go unbeaten in the competition since its inception in 1963.