Nahki Wells has become somewhat of a pantomime villain for Leeds United supporters over the last 10 years.
Wells’ spells at Bradford City and Huddersfield Town helped earn him that tag and he is set to come up against Leeds for the 15th time in his career on Saturday afternoon with Bristol City.
The 34-year-old has scored three goals against the Whites in that period, the last of which came for Queens Park Rangers in January 2020, in pretty controversial circumstances after a clear handball wasn’t spotted by the referee.
He is likely to be coming into this game full of confidence having netted both goals in Bristol City’s 2-2 comeback draw away at Stoke City on Tuesday night.
That said, Leeds have a much stronger defensive record than Stoke this season, with Robins caretaker boss Chris Hogg hailing the Whites as a ‘top’ side in his pre-match press conference.
Wells on his ‘secret’ about Leeds
The stick Wells has received from Leeds supporters predominantly stems from his time at Huddersfield Town, particularly after scoring in a 4-1 win away at Elland Road in 2016.
Wells has been speaking in an interview with the Yorkshire Post ahead of this afternoon’s meeting where he was asked about why his relationship with Leeds fans is at it is.
He believes the dislike has come from ‘false rumours’ that he actually turned down a move to Leeds in favour of joining Huddersfield Town.
Instead, Wells insists he would have actually ‘jumped at the chance’ to move to Leeds had he been given the opportunity, a ‘secret’ he has never told anyone before.
He said: “Last time I was at Elland Road I injured my ankle, hobbled round the pitch and Leeds fans tore into me. But I can see why they give me a hard time. There’s the Bradford connection, a Huddersfield link, and false rumours I’d turned down Leeds.
“It seemed I’d chosen Huddersfield over Leeds when leaving Bradford which didn’t go down too well but if only they knew the truth. I didn’t even have the option to snub Leeds and this has been my little secret but I’d actually have jumped at the chance to play for them.
“When I first came to England I lived in Leeds as a student at Thomas Danby College and went to a game at Elland Road where I was bowled over by the place.
“I’ve never said this before and I ain’t gonna lie, the first impressions really hit me hard and I sat there thinking I’d really love to play for this club.
“They were League One at the time and living in the city, seeing their players out and about, I felt envious. I badly wanted to play for Leeds but it wasn’t to be.”
Wells record vs Leeds across career
As mentioned, Wells has come up Leeds plenty of times over the course of his career, though hasn’t had too much success.
Wells has faced Leeds in the colours of Huddersfield Town, QPR and Bristol City, but has been on the losing side more often than not.
| Stat | Wells record |
| Wins | 5 |
| Draws | 0 |
| Losses | 9 |
| Goals | 3 |
| Assists | 1 |
| Yellow cards | 3 |
| Red cards | 0 |
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