Heading into this season, very few Bristol City supporters would have been expecting Nahki Wells to be the Robins’ primary goal threat, particularly after the forward played second fiddle to Tommy Conway for much of last term.
Most fans expected summer arrivals Fally Mayulu and Sinclair Armstrong to share the load at the top end of the pitch, with Wells in support to offer an option off of the bench if and when required. But with a third of the season already completed, those supporters couldn’t have been further from the truth.
Since the October international break, the 34-year-old has been an ever-present in the City starting line-up, scoring four goals in just eight matches to keep both Mayulu and Armstrong on the substitutes bench.
While Wells has always been confident in his ability to impact matches, the forward admits that even he was surprised to be this heavily involved having witnessed Liam Manning and the Reds’ transfer business this summer.
“If you’d have asked me this at the beginning of the season, I probably couldn’t have foreseen this,” the forward insisted on Wednesday. “The gaffer obviously changed things, gave me an opportunity and I feel I’ve been thoroughly deserving of the starting role.
“I’ve found my form along with the team’s positive performances and we’re playing some of our best stuff. Along the way, I’ve been playing well and scoring goals and hopefully long may that continue.”
Although the Bermudian international is clearly heading towards the twilight of his career, with his contract at Ashton Gate set to expire at the end of the season and talks yet to begin over an extension, he is yet to slow down both on matchdays during training sessions.
Manning himself has previously revealed that the 34-year-old is working alongside Armstrong and Mayulu to improve areas of his game as the two young forwards look to find their feet in the Championship. Although there are few players with more experience in England’s second tier than Wells, he feels that he still has another level to reach.
“You definitely can always learn,” explained the forward. “You may not be able to get better physically but mentally you can and you learn to adapt your game somewhat. The good thing is my game is still focused on a lot of agility, movement and athleticism because that’s what has got me here today.
“While I’ve still got that, I’ve got everything else but while I’m keeping that, it’s about improving your finishing as well, improving your mental side. That’s what you get through experience and I think in this chapter of my career, that’s what’s common and being an all-round team player has improved.”
Wells made the move to Ashton Gate from Burnley in January of 2020 and in the almost five years he has been in the West Country, there has been an awful lot of change both on and off of the pitch in BS3.
Manning is the fourth manager to take charge of the Reds during the 34-year-old’s spell with the Robins. Lee Johnson was the man to bring him to Ashton Gate, Dean Holden put an awful lot of faith in him in his brief tenure and Nigel Pearson rotated him in and out of the team as Conway broke into the squad.
Despite showing flashes of just how good he could be under all three managers, Wells feels he is playing his best football in a City shirt under the management of Manning and was quick to credit the 39-year-old for harnessing his ability.
“A lot of it is system, personnel and players,” admitted the forward. “There’s no denying that I feel like I thrive when I have a lot of creativity around me and now this side has an abundance of that. At times, I’ve played in sides where we were very much off the cuff.
“Under Nigel, we were very good in transition, very good at winning the ball back and exploiting those spaces where now it’s about dominating possession, trying to play between the lines, building relationships with the 10s and the players that are in and around me.
“Now, we have an abundance of that creativity and I think that’s where I’ll always thrive because I feel like I’m a good finisher, I’ve got good movement and I have an eye for goal. Obviously, the manager as a person is great. A lot’s happened since he’s been in personally, for him as well and those tough moments help bring the group together.
“He’s allowed me to get an opportunity I didn’t really have before. I’d get a game or two and then I’d come out and Tommy would start, so I found it difficult to put a run together.”
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Although he left Ashton Gate for Middlesbrough during the summer transfer window, Wells played a big part in Conway’s development during his time at Bristol City, with the academy graduate often singing the praises of the Bermudian international for the example he set.
With 400 Championship appearances under his belt, there are few better players than Wells to learn from as a young striker and both Manning and Chris Hogg have made it clear what sort of impact the 34-year-old could have on the development of both Armstrong and Mayulu.
Wells’ relationship with City’s young forward pair is completely different to the one that he had with Conway in the past, but the striker does admit that he feels he can help both players adjust to life in the second tier over the coming months.
“Me and Tommy had a really good relationship that’s evident and I’m trying to do the same with them of course,” Wells said. “I’d be lying if I said I had the same relationship with those two as I did with Tommy, that was a different dynamic because he came up through the youth system and we spent a lot more time together.
“But Fally and Sincs are two young lads who are going to go on to have great futures and great careers. I can still learn a lot off of them and I’m pretty sure they’ll learn a lot from me through experience. At the minute, it’s probably me more leading by example and there are things that they can look at and try and implement.
“They both have their strengths and we can all complement each other well. At the moment it’s me trying to lead by example, but if I’m not, there’s lots of encouragement and lots of positive influence in and around the training ground.
“Sincs always calls me vet as in veteran so I’m fully focused on myself, but at the same time, I understand the role I have to play as a senior player and a leader.”