West Ham United have breezed past Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea and are now the best-placed Premier League club to sign Montpellier striker Elye Wahi, according to reports.
Both Tottenham and Chelsea could do with landing a new centre-forward this summer. Tottenham have money to spend after selling Harry Kane to Bayern, and it is unclear whether Richarlison is good enough to truly replace him.
Chelsea, meanwhile, have already brought in Nicolas Jackson during the current transfer window. But after an injury to Christopher Nkunku, it would make sense if the Blues landed a second goalscorer to link up with Jackson.
Tottenham and Chelsea have identified Wahi as a possible striker addition. That comes after his great campaign in 2022-23, during which he netted 19 goals in 33 appearances.
However, Tottenham and Chelsea are both at growing risk of missing out on the France U21 international to London rivals West Ham. On Wednesday, French outlet Foot Mercato revealed how Wahi has chosen to sign for West Ham in a surprise twist.
And RMC Sport have now provided a second, promising update for Irons fans. They state that West Ham are on the verge of reaching an agreement with Montpellier for Wahi’s transfer.
The deal will be worth between €35-40m (£29.8-34.1m), though that does not include add-ons.
West Ham are not the only team to be in advanced talks with Montpellier. It is claimed French outfit Lens are also trying to strike an agreement for Wahi.
West Ham poised to sign Elye Wahi
However, if Foot Mercato’s information from earlier this week is correct, then the 20-year-old will rejected Lens’ advances in order to join David Moyes’ side.
Should Wahi sign for West Ham, then he will replace Gianluca Scamacca at the London Stadium. Scamacca only signed for West Ham last summer, but he has already gone back to Italy by joining Atalanta.
After spending an initial £35.5m on the former Sassuolo man, West Ham have taken a hit by allowing him to join Atalanta in a £27m deal.
Wahi is not the only exciting player West Ham have been backed to sign recently. They are also firmly in the mix to snare Mohammed Kudus from Ajax.
