Chelsea are still in the race to sign Montpellier striker Elye Wahi this summer, and a reliable journalist has revealed where the Blues stand after their bid was rejected.
Is Elye Wahi leaving Montpellier?
The France youth international still has another two years to run on his contract at the Stade De La Mosson, but having firmly established himself as Michel Der Zakarian’s top goalscorer last season, he’s caught the eye of Mauricio Pochettino in SW6.
The Ligue 1 centre-forward was previously reported to have agreed personal terms over a move to Stamford Bridge which later encouraged chiefs to take their initial interest one step further, though their first proposal didn’t go down as well as they no doubt would have hoped.
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The Daily Express’ Ryan Taylor confirmed that the Blues saw an opening verbal offer for the 20-year-old turned down last month, and whilst talks were set to continue, it was stated that the youngster was “sceptical” about the idea of being sent out on a development loan Strasbourg rather than staying in the Premier League.
With Christopher Nkunku having been ruled out of action for 16 weeks after undergoing surgery on a knee injury, the boss will need to enter the market for attacking reinforcements, and despite their earlier setback, it sounds as if there’s still a chance that they could secure the services of their target overseas.
Are Chelsea signing Elye Wahi?
Taking to Twitter X, Nizaar Kinsella revealed that Chelsea are still very much in the running for Wahi, but admitted that a deal won’t be easy to get over the line as a result of other unnamed clubs also considering a swoop. He wrote:
“Chelsea haven't fully pulled out of the race for Elye Wahi despite having a £24m bid rejected by Montpellier. There's a lot of rival interest there, of course.”
How many goals has Elye Wahi scored?
In Ligue 1 last season, Wahi racked up a remarkable 25 goal contributions (19 goals and six assists) in 33 appearances, showing how prolific he is, so if he was to put pen to paper at Chelsea, Pochettino would receive a huge boost by having the striker at his disposal.
The DW Sports Management client, who’s sponsored by Adidas, also recorded a total of 62 shots over the course of the campaign which was more than any other of his teammates, via FBRef, highlighting his constant desire to find the back of the net.
Montpellier’s gem additionally has the versatility to operate in five different positions over the pitch, including everywhere across the frontline and even two roles in the midfield, so he would be able to easily adapt should the manager want to switch up his team selection.
Wahi has been dubbed a “powerful” centre-forward by his club’s former academy director Francis De Taddeo meaning that he would be a real handful for an opposition’s defence to deal with due to his physical strength, so should the opportunity present itself once again, this is a no-brainer of a deal to complete.