Bermuda’s first million pound footballer is urging young people to pursue their goals just like he began doing six years ago.

Nahki Wells, who was Dandy Town’s top scorer in the 2009-10 season before heading to England to pursue a professional career, is featured in the Fast Track Bermuda magazine, a careers publication aimed at high school and college students to give them career insights.

Published in Britain, it is distributed at the Bermuda College and in colleges in the United States and Britain as well as at college fairs.

Mr Wells is featured on the cover of the annual magazine, and inside he urges young people to stay focused and not get distracted.

“It’s a lot of hard work, but you have to be willing to better yourself. Just stick to the plan and chase your dreams because anything is possible.” he encouraged.

In a few short years Mr Wells went from winning the BFA Player of the Year award in Town’s league-winning 2009-10 season to becoming a £1.3 million transfer when he left Bradford City to join Huddersfield in January 2015.

After leading his team’s scoring last year with 18 goals, Mr Wells’s value is said to have increased to seven times that amount, with rumours of a possible transfer in January. Through all of that, however, he has never forgotten his humble beginnings and appreciates the tremendous support he receives from fans back home who follow his games every weekend.

“I have a lot of fond memories with Dandy Town,” Mr Wells told the magazine.

“Stretching back to the early days, going on tours to America, and representing the island with the club abroad. Those were the fun days and I do have a lot of great memories.”

After stints at Eccleshill United and Carlisle United — the current club of another Bermudian, Reggie Lambe — Mr Wells moved to Bradford City in 2011 and helped the team get promoted into League One. Eventually other clubs began taking notice of his scoring exploits and two years ago Huddersfield signed him.

“I was at Bradford and doing quite well, and then Huddersfield showed interest and was willing to buy me from Bradford,” he explained. “I felt at the time it was the right move, and it was a great feeling to make the move. Huddersfield is now the next chapter in my career.”

Mr Wells was able to make the step up into a higher division with continued dedication and hard work, the same approach he urges young people to adapt.

“The transition was difficult, coming over from a small island where we only had domestic experience,” he explained.

“There were many challenges along the way. The weather, the competition, the demand to have to perform, the lifestyle, the professionalism, all of that. I took it all in my stride.

“While I did expect to play at the Championship level — and I am thankful and happy to have made it this far — I still have aspirations to get to the very top. As a footballer, I understand how difficult it is and you have to take every step as it comes.”

Mr Wells knows he is a role model to many young Bermudian footballers who hope to follow in his footsteps and those of other professionals such as Clyde Best, Shaun Goater and Kyle Lightbourne. He gives a lot of credit to former coaches Kenny Thompson — then the Bermuda Football Association youth director — and Scott Morton who coached him at junior and senior level at Dandy Town. “A lot of people have helped me along the way,” Mr Wells said. “Apart from family members, the likes of Kenny and Scott are people who have had a big influence on my footballing career. There have been a few others along the way, but apart from my family, of course, these two have had the greatest impact.”

Mr Wells appreciates the guidance he received as a young boy which kept him on the right path at a time when young men were falling into the gang lifestyle in Bermuda. He believes sport is a great way to engage young men and keep them on a positive track. He suggests Bermuda needs to invest more in its young people and believes sports can provide a positive outlet.

“I do think it is down to the money and efforts of Bermuda as a whole investing in these societies,” he stated.

“Until more money and time are put into sports and activities, I can’t see the gang activity changing anytime soon.”

Mr Wells urges young people in Bermuda not to follow that path. “They can achieve so much more if they stay focused and don’t get distracted by anything that will stop them from achieving their goals,” he said.

“Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t achieve what you want to achieve. It’s not just in sports, or football, it’s in any walk of life. A lot of young people look up to me and want to follow my footsteps and go beyond me. For them, I would just like to say that the sky is the limit.”

The magazine also featured other young professionals in various careers, including Cup Match cricketers Stephen Outerbridge and Greg Maybury. Mr Maybury, a former Bermuda captain, won this year’s Bermuda Friendly Societies Association’s Sportsmanship Award for his deportment during Cup Match.

Mr Maybury, a Bermuda international, talked about his career within the EY Bermuda’s graduate training programme in wealth and asset management.

Also featured in the latest issue of the magazine are rower Shelley Pearson who talks about competing in the 2016 Rio Olympics while studying for her MBA at Oxford University, and education minister Wayne Scott who talks about overcoming life’s challenges.

Mr Scott spoke about the importance of preparation, commitment and dedication in sports and referred to boxer Nikki Bascome, triathlete Flora Duffy and wheelchair track athlete Jessica Lewis and the challenges they overcame.