'In Nigeria they have great strikers' - Bayer coach Alonso sends message to Peseiro about 'good winger' Tella 

Three days after receiving his first-ever call-up to Nigeria's senior national team, Arsenal's Hale End Academy product Nathan Tella netted his first Bundesliga goal as Bayer Leverkusen equaled the best start in Bundesliga history following their 4-0 rout of Union Berlin at the BayArena.

With 31 points from their opening eleven games, Bayer Leverkusen equaled Bayern Munich's record start under manager Pep Guardiola in the 2015-2016 season.

A summer signing from Southampton, Tella totaled 46 minutes on the pitch spread across six matches before netting his first goal in the German top flight. 

At the post-match press conference after the game, Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso praised the qualities of Tella and highlighted that the winger could be useful to Super Eagles manager Jose Peseiro despite Nigeria having several quality strikers in their ranks.

Despite the absence of injured Napoli star Victor Osimhen, the Portuguese has plenty of firepower at his disposal, given that he has named five out-and-out strikers Kelechi Iheanacho, Victor Boniface, Taiwo Awoniyi, Terem Moffi and Sadiq Umar in his squad for the 2026 World Cup qualifying matches against Lesotho and Zimbabwe.

"Nathan is a player that has the ability to just do the right thing, be in the right place, he has the quality to be in the box and makes the right runs," Alonso told reporters. 

"In Nigeria they have great strikers and maybe they could use good wingers. He’s a really nice guy with a strong mentality, he has a great attitude." 

This week, Tella is aiming to become only the third Bayer Leverkusen player to make his debut for the Super Eagles, after Karibe Ojigwe and Victor Boniface. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

Photo Credit: bayer04.de

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