NAHKI’S GUNNING FOR PREMIER LEAGUE RETURN

LEAVING Bermuda as a 20-yearold, Nahki Wells had one goal as a footballer - to make it to the Premier League.

Via the not-exactly-Caribbean confines of Carlisle, Bradford and Huddersfield, Wells steadily made his way up the pyramid before earning his shot at the big time with a move to Burnley in 2017.

However, his time at Turf Moor was a peculiar one, unable to break into the first team, his Premier League experience amounts to just 46 minutes across nine substitute appearances and he spent the last 18 months on loan at QPR.

After that frustrating false start, where he probably didn’t feel a Premier League player in either body or soul, Wells now believes becoming a Bristol City player represents his best route back into the big time.

Wells, pictured, signed for City on the penultimate day of the transfer window for £4 million, ending the Robins’ exhaustive search for an established Championship striker who can, theoretically, make an instant impact.

“I had a Premier League opportunity, I didn’t really get to take it so that’s something that burns me deep inside,” said Wells. “This club matched my ambition to continue to move forward, not settling with just being in the Championship. This club wants to get to the Premier League and my ambition is the same. I want to give it everything I’ve got and this club gives me a very good platform of doing that.

“To have that taste of the Premier League ... I had always dreamed of being there. “Most players will have that drive and, for me, it’s something that doesn’t sit too well for me; that I got a move to the Premier League and I wasn’t really able to stamp my authority and show what I had.

“To not be able to score Premier League goals still sits in the back of my head, always.

“We all have personal attributes but I’m always hungry to score goals. I’m very easy to complement a lot of players, I’m different to what we have here.

“I tick that box in what the club needed. I’m not content with just settling and being a good Championship player, I want to keep striving to get back to the Premier League and the ambitions of the club are equally aligned with that.”

Wells hopes he can be the final piece of the puzzle for Bristol City in terms of providing extra penetration and finesse in the final third.

Without Benik Afobe since midSeptember, the Robins frontline has been Famara Diedhiou and Andi Weimann; one physically dominant and primarily an aerial threat, the other an athletic tactical wide forward.

While they’ve provided 17 goals between them, City have lacked a central striker to be a consistent runner off the shoulder of defenders. Wells can be that man.

» To read the full interview with Nahki Wells, visit www.bristolpost. co.uk/sport.