RISING star Nathan Tella admitted it would be “nice to be involved” against boyhood club Arsenal – but insisted his main focus was on impressing at Saints.

The talented 21-year-old has staked his claim for a place in Ralph Hasenhuttl’s squad for tomorrow’s trip to north London, having scored four times for the club’s B team against Leicester City on Saturday.

Tella spent a decade of his youth career at Arsenal before being released by the Gunners in 2017.

He spent time on trial with Reading and Norwich City before Saints swooped for his services.

Stevenage-born forward Tella has since risen through the ranks at St Mary’s.

He made his first senior appearance in a Saints shirt at Norwich back in June, coming off the bench in the latter stages at Carrow Road.

He has featured in eight out of 12 of Hasenhuttl’s matchday squads in the Premier League this season.

The youngster’s first senior start for Saints came against Brentford in the Carabao Cup this campaign – to go with substitute appearances against Tottenham, Burnley and Chelsea.

Asked whether he was looking forward to potentially going back to his old club, Tella told the Daily Echo: “I just have to keep doing the right things in training.

“Try to keep impressing the manager and then I don’t know, hopefully I can just get in the squad and keep doing the right things.

“But yeah, it would be nice to be involved against Arsenal.

“There are happy memories but at a point in your life you are going to have to move on.

“At the end of the day, I am here at Southampton, my focus is Southampton so I can’t get too caught up in the emotions.

“It’s just about going out, doing a job for the team and getting the result - that’s how I’ve got to look at it.

“It would be nice to put in a performance but I look at every game with the same vision. I always want to have a good game regardless of who it’s against.

“Whether it’s against the so-called big six, whether it’s against a struggling team – I take every game with the same attitude and just want to impress and keep doing the right things regardless.”

Should he feature against Mikel Arteta’s side in the capital, Tella could be united with an old friend in striker Eddie Nketiah.

The Arsenal frontman, now the record goalscorer for England under-21s, has five goals in 19 appearances in all competitions this season.

“He came to the club at 14 and we just clicked from there,” explained Tella. “We spent a year together in digs before I moved on.

“It’s just crazy to see how much he has progressed, coming into the team, going out on loan and breaking the record for England under-21s.

“It’s really impressive and great seeing someone I’ve played with doing well.”

And while he could be reunited with some old faces against Arsenal, Tella’s main ambitions at Saints remain clear.

“I still just want to impress the manager,” he said. “Keep trying to impress the manager and impress my team-mates.

“I want to earn the manager’s trust, earn the players’ trust so that when I’m called upon, whether it’s for a 90-minute game, whether it’s for five minutes or one minute I just want them to know whenever they call upon me, I’m ready.

“Whatever job they give me to do on the pitch, I am able to do it to the best of my ability.”

Tella’s form was rewarded when he penned a fresh deal at St Mary’s in July, keeping him at the club until at least 2023.

Asked about the forward ahead of the clash with the Gunners, manager Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “We are very convinced about him.

“We need to think about what the best position is for him and it seems more and more that he seems more confident on the nine than on the 10, so let’s push him there and get the best out of him and we will have a lot of fun with him.”