As Mauricio Pochettino sets his sights on the Montpellier striker, it has been reported that Chelsea has made a verbal offer for Elye Wahi worth €25 million, including bonuses.
Elye Wahi receives a verbal bid from Chelsea
According to journalist Mohamed Toubache-Ter (via Get French Football News), Chelsea are interested in signing France Under-21 goal-scoring machine Elye Wahi and have made a verbal offer of about €25 million. However, this amount is thought to be far below Montpellier’s estimated value of closer to €35 million, meaning Chelsea will need to increase their offer in order to reach a deal.
This comes after Fabrizio Romano, a transfer analyst, stated earlier this week that Chelsea were “getting closer” to signing the Frenchman as initial negotiations with Montpellier went well. The fact that Chelsea has now formally expressed their interest with a verbal offer suggests that those discussions have continued to be fruitful.
Although Chelsea had acquired Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku for a combined £81.5 million during the summer transfer window, Mauricio Pochettino’s team appears eager to get a third attacking prospect.
Wahi dazzled in the French top division last season with 19 goals and six assists across 33 games. He also produced the breathtaking goal that earned the Ligue 1 Goal of the Year title. Wahi has played his whole professional career for Montpellier and is now under contract at Stade de la Mosson through 2025.
The Blues want to sign the highly-rated attacker, but Arsenal, their rivals in London, are putting up a fight. Chelsea intends to send Wahi back on loan to Ligue 1 for the 2023–24 season, with sister club Strasbourg being the top choice if an agreement can be reached with the Ligue 1 team in the upcoming days.
Wahi is reportedly reluctant to move to Strasbourg on loan, but he is still interested in joining Chelsea as long as negotiations between the two clubs are ongoing.
Romelu Lukaku and Chelsea both want to part ways before the new season, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left Stamford Bridge this summer, so it makes sense for the Blues to have another quick striker in their ranks who could possibly make his breakthrough at Stamford Bridge in a season or two.
Pochettino wants to bring in another attacker as well as a new holding midfielder. Although Chelsea has yet to negotiate a deal with Brighton, Moises Caicedo is one of their primary targets.
They are also keeping close tabs on Southampton midfielder and Liverpool target Romeo Lavia and could push forward with yet another high-profile hijack should Caicedo’s pursuit prove unfruitful in the coming days.
