Wells takes inspiration from Bermuda’s finest

Nahki Wells finishes off his food and clears his throat. An hour earlier I’d caught him “cookin’ up summit”.

“Still a bad time?”

“Nah it’s cool, let’s do this,” he says in an accent that must have initially left his Yorkshire neighbours scratching their heads.

But the 22-year-old, as his performances this season have proved, is no longer a fish out of water.

His initial visit to England saw him head to Ipswich Town with fellow islander Reggie Lambe. Reggie, now at Toronto FC, stayed on — he played six games for the Tractor Boys — but Nahki wasn’t ready. His mum, Elizabeth Simmons, admits her then teenage son simply wasn’t mature enough to deal with the drastic change in environment.

In 2010, Wells — after starring for Dandy Town in the 2009-10 season — was recommended to The Richmond International Academic & Soccer Academy in Yorkshire.

This time, with a renewed sense of focus and his lifelong desire to become a pro footballer more intense than ever, he was ready. After a short stint at Carlisle, he was picked up by Bradford. He scored 12 goals in the 2011-12 season and, after a blistering start to this season, City put their faith in him with a three-year contract.

Now, 18 goals later, and a Wembley final imminent, a host of Championship clubs — Leeds United, Huddersfield and Wolves are watching close — are poised to make summer bids.

The boy from Devonshire has grown up quick and his Capital One Cup giantkilling with Bradford has elevated him to a place alongside the leading Bermudian footballers in the country’s history.

On Sunday, he is set to become the first from this small island to play in a major cup final in England and only the third to play at Wembley after Shaun Goater and Kyle Lightbourne.

But as Wells explains, West Ham hero Clyde Best, Goater and Lightbourne all played at the highest level.

“I mean they stamped their mark on the game,” Wells told the Bermuda Sun. “There’s not too many who don’t know what they’ve done in the country.

“Obviously I look up to them. I want to build my career on a platform for others in Bermuda that are coming along like they did for myself.

“I just take everything with a pinch of salt. It’s great to be the next one challenging what their success was but I don’t get too overwhelmed with it because Goater was playing in the Premiership, Kyle Lightbourne had a spell in the Premiership as was Clyde Best (at the top level) and I’ve been playing in League Two.

“But I’m quite young in the game and I have a long future and hopefully I get to go down a similar road and play at the highest level possible, which is the Premier League.

“That’s where my target is but at the moment it’s about looking up to them and understanding their success and trying to better it really. Goater and Lightbourne had a similar start to their careers that I did at 20, 21ish, so why can’t I?

“It would be great to take those opportunities a bit earlier than Kyle and Goater did but that’s the future and at the moment I’m playing in League Two with Bradford and I’ve got to do what it takes to get there and whatever it takes, I’m prepared to do it.”

The player is on the cusp of defining career moments – both on Sunday and in the summer. But he clearly appreciates the opportunity Bradford have given him and the last thing he wanted was for the fans to think he was being “disrespectful” by letting all the transfer talk affect him.

With that approach it’s easy to see why the fans love him – and why the Bradford Supporters Club’s Nahki masks made for the semi-final almost sold out.

As well as the cup run, Wells became the first Bantams players to score a hat-trick in four years this season. He’s their top scorer and has helped inject pride into a club that had fallen on hard times.

One more win, against Swansea on Sunday, would probably earn him the freedom of the city but the striker knows the Welsh side are a cultured and clinical outfit under manager Michael Laudrup. Getting the ball off them will be vital.

“There’s not too much studying you can really do apart from the fact that when you do have the ball you have to keep it, because you know for large quantities of the game you’re going to be chasing it and trying to win it back.

Big day out is just the ticket... for most

The former Dandy Town man admits he’s not impressed everyone in the lead-up to the big game.

Inundated with requests for tickets, the striker’s allocation could not meet the level of demand from those here as well as in Bradford.

However, he has ensured all his nearest and dearest will be there to share the pinnacle of his career so far.

He said: “I had quite a lot requests for tickets but there’s going to be a lot of unhappy people here and in Bermuda. But I’ve done well to get tickets for everyone who plays a role in my life and that I know well enough.

“I’m proud to say that all my immediate family and friends are coming over but I could only get my hands on so many so hopefully everyone else is able to get their hands on tickets themselves. 

“If not, that’s the reality of the cup final. There’s not enough tickets to hand out to everyone.”

‘Transfer talk was rife but there were no doubts I’d stay’

Nahki Wells admitted he was a relieved man when the transfer window finally closed at the end of January.

The highly-rated front man has caught the eye of a number of Championship clubs this season thanks to his 18 goals, lightning pace and two-footed ability.

Leeds United, Wolves and Hudderfield were all reported to be watching, with Wells’ agent revealing there was plenty of serious interest.

But with the prospect of a Wembley final to look forward to, the striker was delighted a decision never had to be made and he was able to look forward to his trip to London.

He said: “When the transfer window ended I didn’t have any doubts I would still be at Bradford come February 1 — but you can’t help but notice the publicity, and the newspapers, and the tweets, and the ‘this linked with that’.

“Obviously it might have some truth behind it but a lot of it might be false but it’s good to know that if you’re getting talked about you’re doing well.

“I didn’t want to let it show in my performances that it looked like he might get a move or he’s not dedicated to Bradford etc.

“I’m sort of happy it worked out that way [I didn’t move]. Hopefully it will be better for me if I do move, if I do well enough and a team is willing to take a punt on me it will be in the summer and I’ll be able to settle better.

“But I don’t think it makes any sense to be talking about transfers now the transfer window has closed and it’s disrespectful to Bradford.

“I’m a Bradford player and I’m happy to be one. “I’ve got a lot to look forward to between now and the end of the season and a lot to accomplish with Bradford and then we’ll go from there.”

Injury fear so hard to ignore

Only one thing would be worse for Nahki Wells than not getting picked to start on Sunday — and that’s getting injured.

The 22-year-old admits thoughts of that dreaded prospect have been hard to shake the past couple of weeks, although he’s remained philosophical.

He said: “It plays on your mind but once you start the training session you don’t think of Wembley, you just train your best and it’s similar to a game — once the whistle goes you’re just focused on doing whatever it takes to win the game at that particularly time.

“But leading up to Wembley on and off the pitch I’ve obviously been thinking about it but I’m just trying not to overcomplicate it — whatever happens, happens because you can’t determine that, you just have to play the best you can.”

Wells suffered a slight groin strain recently but the threat of a nasty challenge ruining his Wembley dream was taken out of the equation to some degree after he was rested for the win over Wycombe and played just five minutes of the disappointing defeat to AFC Wimbledon at the weekend.

Bradford’s league form has suffered at the hands of the cup run and Wells maintains getting out of League Two is the priority, despite now dropping to 11th, seven points off the play-offs.

He added: “The Capital One Cup is pretty much a bonus but now we’ve got to the final so we might have to take it to another level in terms of judging the importance of it.

“But I haven’t really thought to much about getting injured. I’m pretty healthy.

“I missed two games at the start of the season through a hip injury and ever since then I’ve been healthy so hopefully that can continue.”