Chelsea have renewed their interest in signing Elye Wahi as the club continue their pursuit of a centre-forward.
Chelsea first expressed interest in signing the French forward last summer but a deal failed to materialise, before Wahi left Montpellier for Lens in a €35m deal.
Wahi became the second-most expensive transfer between Ligue 1 clubs as Lens reinvested the windfall received from Lois Openda’s sale to RB Leipzig.
The 21-year-old scored 12 goals in all competitions during his debut season at Lens, and produced a man-of-the-match performance with a goal and assist in a 2-1 Champions League win against Arsenal in October.
French outlet L’Equipe are reporting that Chelsea have made contact to gauge Lens’ openness to a potential sale, renewing the interest first expressed last summer. West Ham also considered a move for Wahi in 2023.
Wahi has represented France up to u-21 level. However, he was omitted from the final squad for this summer’s Olympic tournament which will be staged in Paris. The forward has scored 41 goals in 113 appearances in Ligue 1 in his career to date.
Chelsea have been linked with a host of forwards so far this summer and saw a bid for Atletico Madrid’s Samu Omorodion turned down earlier in the transfer window.
Karim Adeyemi, Jhon Duran and Ivan Toney have also been mentioned as options as the Blues look to provide competition for Nicolas Jackson.
