Nahki Wells: The hot kid in Bradford

London Road won’t be seeing Nahki’s talents,or at least not on a regular basis. (Courtesy of Richard Humphrey)

At a recent fans’ forum, Bradford manager Phil Parkinson said that he had told Darren Ferguson that the offer had been unacceptable and that given that he rated Wells as a better player than Dwight Gayle (who Peterborough recently sold to Crystal Palace for a reported £5 million) then any offer would have to be substantially higher than the one on the table. To date, nothing more has been heard.

Even if an acceptable amount had been offered, it is not clear that Wells would have been interested in signing for Peterborough, or any other League One side. Parkinson said that his striker “does not suffer from a lack of confidence” and it appears that this applies just as much to his long term career ambitions as it does to his on-field performances.

I must admit that on occasion I have been a little frustrated by Nahki’s lack of public professions of love for my club, but then I have to remember that his relationship with Bradford City is that of an employee/employer relationship, as opposed to my own connection which is more akin to a hopeless romantic/junkie deviant.

He has regularly spoken of his desire to play at the highest level possible. He is a regular starter for the Bermudian national team and last year’s cup run showed that he can cause problems for even Premier League defenders with his pace and movement. The transfer window has its critics, but as a means of protecting lower league clubs from unsettling transfer speculation it provides a welcome sanctuary.

Remember Graeme Tomlinson?

No, I thought not. Tomlinson was another young striker who burst into the City first team in the early 1990’s when the club were also in the third tier of English football. He scored six goals in 17 appearances which meant another Ferguson came calling – Darren’s dad. This time, without the limiting effects of the transfer window, the young striker was persuaded to join the Manchester giant as opposed to staying with City and developing his game.

He went on to appear for Manchester United precisely zero times and scored 14 times in 119 appearances over the next eight years as he suffered injury and then went out first on loan to a number of clubs, and then to Macclesfield and Exeter before dropping into non-League football obscurity.

Tomlinson also had massive potential, but unlike him Wells has already had a chance to gain valuable experience in the lower leagues where opponents can take a rather robust interpretation of Law 12 (Fouls and misconduct) and has shown that when given an opportunity, he will more often than not score.

I would be very surprised if a number of Championship and even Premier League clubs are not watching him. Rumours of a £3 million plus bid from QPR in the last transfer window never materialised despite speculation in the national press, but if he continues to score regularly for the Bantams then interest can only continue to grow. Obviously, I would love him to stay with my club and use his goals to help us compete for back-to-back promotions, but if an offer of “silly money” (to quote our Co-chairman Mark Lawn) comes in when the transfer window re-opens, could we really stand in his way?

Probably not.

I think that unless we are competing for the top few places in League One, an offer of the right money from the right club in January could see Wells leave. It is the nature of game that ambitious, in-form players will be picked up by teams higher up the football pyramid. Some fulfil their promise and others fade from view.

What happens with Nahki remains to be seen, but I hope that his current scoring run continues for as long as he remains as a City player and along with my fellow Bantams, I will enjoy every run that creates terror in the opponents’ defence – until January at least.