Well, Well, Wells.

[Mason 47 1,922]

The whispers across the internet today is that our attention has been turned to Nahki Wells of Huddersfield in our search for a striker.

I know very little about him, if I''m honest.

[sonyc 6,144]

I do. See Alternatives to McCormack thread

[KeiranShikari_2 0]

Good thread title.

[Branston Pickle 4,145]

I can''t see anything much linking us on t''interweb but he seems to have a decent enough record. I wouldn''t have him quite up to McCormack''s level as things stand, but has age on his side and could fire well in a decent side.

[Icecream Snow 777]

Think it''s just because when Paddy Davitt shot down Assombalonga, he didn''t shoot down Nakhi Wells

[kick it off 2,062]

The only issue I have with Nakhi is that he is 5''7. He is quick though, and can finish, so would happily have him in, but I would want the other striker to be more of an Mbokani type big man to give us options.

[Samwam27 605]

Well if we get N''doye, then we have two "powerful strikers" so would be great to get someone of different build to give us variety.

[FenwayFrank 2,716]

I really hope we get Ndoye, purely for the song someone on here suggested 😀

[Dr Greenthumb 792]

Went to watch Bradford at Burton in the playoffs the year they went up and this kid was a class above everyone on the pitch, 2goals and was a nuisance all day long

[Jack Flash 17]

[quote user="kick it off"]The only issue I have with Nakhi is that he is 5''7. He is quick though, and can finish, so would happily have him in, but I would want the other striker to be more of an Mbokani type big man to give us options.[/quote]

Agree with that as I too worry about how we fit a 5''7'''' striker into our system unless we are going for a 2 upfront formation. He certainly would not work as a lone striker or as an alternative to Cam. Happy to leave it to Alex though. His 70% win rate in the Championship is first class, he knows what he''s doing.

[Mason 47 1,922]

I find it odd that people are still going on about this need to play two up front if the forward isn''t very tall.

On the evidence of yesterday, we''re aiming to play very much with a forward unit of 3 or 4, and will naturally prefer to keep the ball on the deck.

Admittedly I would say our one real weakness is literally physical weakness, so we could do with some strength in reserve. I wouldn''t say it was a must, though.

[Move Klose 303]

If he''s available for around the £5m mark with 2 years left on his contract then i say he would be a great signing. A decent record in the championship goal every 2.97 games for a side that''s finished 19th, 16th & 17th in that time. Not the tallest but pacey. Just turned 26 in June so a good age and I reckon a much cheaper option Assombalonga.

[Alex Moss 2,167]

Just watched one of those dreaded YouTube compilation videos as I know nothing about the player, and what really stood out to me was how equally adept this lad is at burying the ball with both feet. Very impressed.

[Essjayess 307]

Decent enough lad. but not convinced yet that Wells is an AN target. As for thinking hes valued at 5 mill, think again...any club with a Champ striker who has scored 15-20 goals in a season will have upped values to 10 mill or more...thats  how things are now.

[Norfolk Mustard 106]

Nahki Wells is not a £10m player - yet.

[king canary 8,751]

Wells can play as a lone striker as he is deceptively strong with his back to goal. Not going to win much in the air but with players like Naismith, Wes and Pritchard in behind the striker we''re hardly going to be going long to often.

His pace would also give us different options in how to play- start with Jerome and we can bring him on if we need pace, or vice-versa if we need to bring Jerome on for a big target. Also we have the option of using the two of them in a classic big man little man combination.

In short- would be bloody delighted if we got him.

[Horse Renoir 1]

I''d definitely like to see him here. Could probably make the step up to the PL as well if he continues to improve here. He showed in Bradfords league cup run that he can compete against top teams.

Sadly though, we''ll end up having to pay over the odds for him this summer. Just a couple of years ago you''d have gotten a Wells or Kodjia type for about 5 million, tops, we''ll be looking at at least doubling that for Wells and probably even more for Kodjia, which is crazy money for good but not exceptional players at this level

[BroadstairsR 2,273]

Agree entirely with all that KC, but I also feel that we would need a bigger unit up-front as well and as an alternative to Jerome when needed.

At the moment the Dame seems a front runner and I wouldn''t mind loaning him for a season.

There are probably better out there though, so we''ll see in the coming week just what striker(s) AN has lined up.

[king canary 8,751]

@Broadstairs

Yep I''d agree with that- I think we need to sign two strikers, one who can back up Jerome and one who offers something different.

A target man type on loan for a season with money being invested in someone like Wells would be pretty perfect to be honest.

[Rich T The Biscuit 676]

Have to admit that I''d not seen that much of Wells and although I appreciate its a YouTube compilation I''ve just watched but based on that he certainly knows where the goal is.

Left foot, right foot, headers and pace....he''d thrive playing in our system.

[hogesar 10,761]

Few Huddersfield fans on FB groups (I know) seem to think he misses too many easy chances and is often quite lazy.

Of course they could be a bit bitter.

[Rich T The Biscuit 676]

Which striker doesn''t Hogesar.....we''ve have plenty over the years like that?!?!

Watching McCormack yesterday he hardly set the world alight and how can a forward player only touch the ball 10 times in 45 mins, I hope Villa got him on a contract based on the numbers of touches during a game......ha ha

[Yelloow Since 72 56]

I also thought McCormack was anything but impressive yesterday as Villa tried to channel play through him behind Gestede, who also offered very little. I also hadn''t realised just how slow McCormack is.

Wells would be a decent signing as long as we get another bigger striker like N''Doye or AN other as well, as others have said.

[tricky974 63]

Would give us a different dimension to the way we play but someone like kodjia or grigg would be good and more within the AN type of player that he likes.

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

I had a quick look at Nahki Well''s shot conversation rate (2015/16 season) compared to Cameron Jerome''s (2014/15 season).

They are fairly similar to be honest, for shots in the box NW was converting 18% and CJ was converting 16%.

What is interesting though, is NW is getting 44% of his shots on target compared to CJ who got 36%. Many football analysts say as long as a striker is regularly hitting the target he can be expected to score well and consistently.

The fact NW achieved a much higher accuracy rate is also impressive when seeing he is much more likely to shoot from range that CJ. 35% of all NW''s shots were from outside the box, compared to 16% for Jerome.

It''s impossible to do a much more detailed, and therefore accurate, analysis without access to more stats, but NW''s numbers do look impressive. I would be tempted though to stop him shooting quite so much from range.

He is also a little more versatile than Jerome having played on the left for Huddersfield on a number of occasions.

[Yellowbeagle 0]

[quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"]I had a quick look at Nahki Well''s shot conversation rate (2015/16 season) compared to Cameron Jerome''s (2014/15 season).

They are fairly similar to be honest, for shots in the box NW was converting 18% and CJ was converting 16%.

What is interesting though, is NW is getting 44% of his shots on target compared to CJ who got 36%. Many football analysts say as long as a striker is regularly hitting the target he can be expected to score well and consistently.

The fact NW achieved a much higher accuracy rate is also impressive when seeing he is much more likely to shoot from range that CJ. 35% of all NW''s shots were from outside the box, compared to 16% for Jerome.

It''s impossible to do a much more detailed, and therefore accurate, analysis without access to more stats, but NW''s numbers do look impressive. I would be tempted though to stop him shooting quite so much from range.

He is also a little more versatile than Jerome having played on the left for Huddersfield on a number of occasions.[/quote]

Yes that''s all well and good but Jerome does a lot more for the team other than just shoot at goal. I dont feel so strongly about the club taking a gamble on Wells as it won''t be in the same money bracket as McCormack, but it still Leaves us with the issue of an alternative to Jerome who can play top on his own, the system we actually play. Hopefully Wells and a another.

[hogesar 10,761]

[quote user="Rich T The Biscuit"]Which striker doesn''t Hogesar.....we''ve have plenty over the years like that?!?!

Watching McCormack yesterday he hardly set the world alight and how can a forward player only touch the ball 10 times in 45 mins, I hope Villa got him on a contract based on the numbers of touches during a game......ha ha[/quote]

Yeah of course!

To be fair to McCormack don''t think he looked fit yet - which only makes the price he went for even more ridiculous.

Wells looks on the face of it, to be a pretty good fit for us, and did score 18 last season in a poor-ish side. Is he worth any more than £8 million to us though? 

[AJ 1,358]

I think he''d be a Wells good signing, innit!

[Jim Smith 2,608]

Breaking rumours of a £6m bid rejected.

[ron obvious 1,711]

Link:

https://twitter.com/eflchampagent/status/762573121392144385