George Overhill

Wed 16 August 2023 7:10, UK

Elye Wahi “wants to go to West Ham” despite a bid from Chelsea and his “file will accelerate in the coming days”, according to Foot Mercato.

The French outlet reported on their website in the early hours of 16 August that the Hammers are now the “primary objective” of the young French forward, 20, after a €27million [£23m] bid to Montpellier from Stamford Bridge was rejected this summer and with Tottenham, PSG and Frankfurt all interested.

West Ham are yet to make an official bid for Wahi, who Foot Mercato previously reported (8 May) had an asking price of at least €40m [£34m] this summer.

The Irons need help up front after selling Gianluca Scamacca to Atalanta for over £27m and with Michail Antonio heavily linked with an exit of his own.

Door open

It sounds like half the job is already done if West Ham are ready to pick the ball up and run with it in the final fortnight of the transfer window.

Wahi, who scored 19 Ligue 1 goals last season and assisted six more, certainly appears to be the sort of exciting attacker with room to further develop that could be a real hit in the Premier League.

But it doesn’t look like it is going to come cheap, since Chelsea’s bid wasn’t enough, and the Hammers’ recent record of spending big on strikers isn’t great.

The club’s attempts to reach agreements on fees this summer has been a very slow process at the best of times so whether there is enough left in the window to settle on something that would satisfy Montpellier might be up for debate.

And if Wahi proves to be another point of disagreement between David Moyes and Tim Steidten it might be factor that makes things tricky.

But if the player has already decided he wants to move to the London Stadium that is a big step in the right direction and provides the club with a major opportunity to add to their attack before the deadline.

In other West Ham news, the club are already in talks over a £25m-plus alternative after the Harry Maguire deal broke down.