Southampton loanee Nathan Tella has revealed that he looked up to Thierry Henry as a youngster.
Tella, who has enjoyed his season on loan at Burnley in the Championship, also looks to Saints veteran Theo Walcott as inspiration.
Tella is expected to be back at Southampton and play his part for the team next term, even if they are in the Championship following relegation from the Premier League.
I've always been an Arsenal fan and at that time I'd look at Thierry Henry and say he was my biggest inspiration in football," the 23 year old explained to Football Daily.
He's someone I tried to model my game after. Of course, at seven years old you can't really say you play like someone but the stuff he was doing in games I would try to do with my local team.
Sometimes it worked, sometimes it wouldn't but just having the confidence to try it, I feel like that's what made me stand out a bit at an early age.
And then as I was growing up a bit and getting older I started to look at Theo Walcott who moved from Southampton to Arsenal.
"For me, being young and being at Arsenal at the time, I wanted to envision myself having that sort of exposure at such a young age. He was someone I looked at and I wanted to play my game like, especially because I moved to the right wing where he played."
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