Nathan Tella
SAINTS defender Jack Stephens has opened up on his unlikely bromance with teammate Nathan Tella admitting: “I just want to look out for him, he makes me laugh and we’re just so different.” Stephens has revealed that the pair couldn’t be any more different but that he has taken the youngster under his wing,
Jack Stephens admitted: “I just want to look out for him. He’s a lovely lad and extremely talented. I just want him to do really well and get right to the very top, which he can do. He’s just very interesting, he just makes me laugh. And we’re so different, I think that’s what intrigues me. We’re so different as individuals.”
The club asked Stephens a series of questions about the squad and asking the defender to elaborate on the answer. Asked who the most annoying teammate is,
Jack Stephens joked: “Sharing a dressing room with Moussa, there’s never a dull moment with Moussa. When he’s happy, he’s very happy. Plenty of singing, plenty of dancing, plenty of music playing. He doesn’t annoy me but he’s definitely the extravagant teammate.”
On who he shouts at the most in-game,
Jack Stephens added: “I give Che (Adams) a bit of stick, but he’s a good mate of mine so it’s nothing personal. But I’m probably a bit harsh on Che.”
After making his Premier League debut during the 2016-17 season and going on to have made well over 100 first team appearances, Stephens has played with a number of past and present Saints defenders. That includes Champions League and Premier League winner Virgil van Dijk, who played alongside Stephens against Leicester in January 2017. But when asked who would be the defender he would like to return to the club and in their prime, to play alongside him now,
Jack Stephens answered: “I’d go with Maya (Yoshida). I think you have to look at it from a partnership point of view. The spell I had with Maya when I first got into the team, it just felt easy, we never had to talk about the game or where we going to be it was just so natural. He was great for me off the pitch, a fantastic person, fantastic role model, an all-round brilliant guy.”
Centre-back Stephens, 27, has become great friends with 22-year-old academy graduate and exciting forward Tella, prompting the club website to ask about their friendship. Stephens joined Saints from Plymouth Argyle back in 2011, while Tella arrived in the academy from Arsenal in 2017, making his first-team debut in June 2020. Since then, Tella has gone on to play 20 Premier League games for the club, scoring once, but his infectious attitude and wide, cheeky smile has helped cut him a popular figure both internally and externally at the club.
