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Stars still waiting for Wells compensation

Wells hoped compensation might have been paid to Western Stars by now

Western Stars Sports Club have yet to receive the money due them from Bradford City, the Sky Bet League One club, out of proceeds from the sale of Nahki Wells to Huddersfield Town last month.

Bradford owe Western Stars £50,000 (about $83,000) in Fifa training compensation stemming from the sale of their former striker in a record transfer worth £1.3 million.

Before pursuing a professional football career in Britain, Wells honed his skills in humble settings at Dandy Town, who fall under the auspices of Western Stars.

“They [Bradford] have made contact with us, but nothing has been sorted out yet,” Wayne Campbell, the president of Western Stars, said yesterday. “We haven’t got anything yet.”

In the summer of 2011, Town waived a $12,000 compensation package so as not to jeopardise Wells’s move to Bradford. It is understood that the then cash-strapped West Yorkshire club were considering pulling the plug on the deal had the Bermudian club not willingly forfeited their entitled development fee.

“When I signed for Bradford, they considered to waive the fee and put a 10 per cent clause in because at that time they did not know if I was worth paying the ten, eight or whatever thousand pounds it was,” Wells told The Royal Gazette. “They put in a 10 per cent which, in my mind, I was confident that I could do well enough for it to benefit Dandy Town.”

He added: “When I moved [to Huddersfield] I totally forgot and that was brought up in the process of dealing with the contracts. I thank Dandy Town for doing so [waiving the initial compensation] because that gave me the opportunity to play.”

Wells went on to impress during a 12-goal debut season at Coral Windows Stadium and was given an improved deal on his original one-year contract.

The 23-year-old striker, who guided Dandy Town to the 2009-10 Premier Division championship before moving to England, believes that the club where he made his are more than worthy of the windfall.

“If anyone deserves it, Dandy Town do,” Wells said. “I spent 20 years at that club, so I have to believe they deserve some sort of credit and financial stability — and they are getting that.

“Hopefully it is used well and helps a lot of people back home. It is a large amount of money and, if used wisely, it can help the club massively.”