Another rejection for Chelsea as 19 goals striker on the radar of some of Europe’s top clubs rejects Chelsea
Another rejection for Chelsea as 19 goals striker on the radar of some of Europe’s top clubs rejects Chelsea
Chelsea have been linked with Montpellier striker Elye Wahi in recent days, as the Blues look to continue their hoovering up of every young talent in Europe and beyond.
He is a final third player, an explosive runner and finisher who can really scare defenders despite having played in smaller teams mainly battling relegation.
Caughtoffside had the perfect person on hand to break it all down – French football expert Jonathon Johnson. He had the following to say about the rumoured interest and the player behind it:
“Elye Wahi is making headlines as Chelsea have supposedly been in talks over signing him, but I don’t think he’s quite ready to make that step up straight to a club like Chelsea. It could also be that Chelsea sign him and then loan him to Strasbourg, that sort of arrangement wouldn’t surprise me as it looked like it might happen with David Datro Fofana, though he’s now gone to Union Berlin instead,” Johnson said.
“Wahi is an interesting talent who’s just had a prolific spell with Montpellier, scoring 19 goals in 33 Ligue 1 games last season. He’s still only 20 but he’s now firmly on the radar of some of Europe’s top clubs.
There are, however, some questions about his character and I think those clubs want to see if he can maintain this form consistently. Equally, Montpellier are one of those clubs who have to sell to survive, and there’s no guarantee that his stock will get any higher than this – if he were to start next season more slowly then clubs might be able to swoop in and get him for a fraction of what he might go for if he moves this summer.
“Still, I don’t think he’s ready to be a starter at a top Premier League club like Chelsea. The competition will be very fierce and they’ll want to get themselves back into European contention. The interest is there and I think we’ve also seen links with others like Tottenham, but I’m sure any move would be done with a view to loaning him out for one or two seasons and then see where he’s at.
“Make no mistake, though, he’s a big prospect and one I think a lot of clubs will be looking at in the next few weeks.”
Johnson’s words echo what we’ve heard from a lot of places already. There’s no denying Wahi’s talent – or the stats he now has to back it up – but we’ve seen plenty of players flash briefly and then fade away over the years, and there will be plenty of caution over committing too much to him.
The news about his club’s financial weakness means he could be a bargain buy even if he doesn’t quite become a superstar, and certainly the idea of making him our summer marquee signing to pass on to Strasbourg is a very interesting one.