West Ham United want to sign Lens star Elye Wahi as £17.1m bid submitted
West Ham risk missing out on Elye Wahi after the Lens striker was the subject of a £17.1million bid from Marseille, according to Fabrice Hawkins.
The French journalist posted on X (7 August) to state that Marseille had submitted an initial £17.1m offer for the 21-year-old forward, which Lens rejected having paid £25.7m for Wahi just 12 months ago.
Lens don’t want to make a loss on Wahi, who has also drawn interest from the Hammers and fellow Premier League side Leicester [L’Equipe, 30 July], after scoring 12 goals in all competitions last season.
However, despite their first bid being rejected by Lens, Wahi reportedly wants to play for Marseille, leaving the Irons as outsiders if they’re to sign the French youth international.
West Ham cannot afford to engage in Elye Wahi transfer battle
The Hammers aren’t slowing down when it comes to Julen Lopetegui’s squad rebuild this summer, and beating Marseille and Leicester to Wahi’s signature would be a clear sign of this.
However, shelling out a transfer fee north of £25m – which Lens have made clear they’ll demand for the striker – is complicated by Niclas Fullkrug’s arrival at the London Stadium in recent days.
The 31-year-old’s signing for a reported fee of £27m himself [BBC Sport] seems to have answered the Irons’ centre-forward conundrum, thus spending a similar amount on Wahi would make little sense.
Lopetegui’s side cooled their long-standing interest in Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran in favour of signing Fullkrug [Fabrizio Romano, 6 August], and his transfer budget can be better spent elsewhere rather than adding Wahi as competition.
There are still defensive issues to solve before the transfer window closes, notwithstanding the fact that Lopetegui already has a vast attacking arsenal at his disposal with the signing of Crysencio Summerville.
Wahi would only crowd an already top-class field of attacking talent, and given the fee Lens are expected to demand for the 21-year-old, the Hammers would be wise to look elsewhere for back-up to Fullkrug.
In other West Ham news, one player’s exit from the London Stadium could be complicated by his personal terms.
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