Chelsea risk losing out on Elye Wahi due to £2.1m difference

Chelsea’s signing of Elye Wahi could collapse as they are reluctant to meet Montpellier’s demand

Chelsea’s acquisition of Elye Wahi could be in jeopardy as Todd Boehly is unwilling to match Montpellier Hérault SC’s demand for their star striker.

According to French publication L’Equipe, (h/t Express), the talks with Montpellier have taken a u-turn as Chelsea are not willing to go overboard for the French star while the Ligue 1 club wants the maximum price for the 20-year-old.

The report says that Chelsea are £2.1 million short of matching the Ligue 1 club offer, as they only want to pay £23.7 million (€27.5 million), while Montpellier are holding out £25.8 million (€30 million).

There isn’t a massive difference in Chelsea’s offer, but Boehly is unwilling to budge. Hopefully, a compromise is found because it would be really frustrating to miss out on such a good talent due to such a minuscule margin.

The American businessman has made a record signing after spending £600 million on the previous two transfer windows during his first season as Chelsea’s owner.

Meanwhile, Wahi is open to testing his mettle at bigger clubs but is doubtful over his loan move to Strasbourg. The 20-year-old enjoyed a prolific season for Montpellier, scoring 19 goals in Ligue 1.

Wahi is young, and £23.7 million is a respectable figure for a player of his calibre. We are considering adding Dusan Vlahovic as well, and having so many forwards can give Mauricio Pochettino problems of its own.

We already have David Datro Fofana and Armando Broja as our young centre-forwards. We can’t go around spending money for the sake of it. If Poch wants Wahi, only then should we make a move.

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Otherwise, we should keep him as a backup option in case our move for Vlahovic doesn’t work out. Stockpiling players and loaning them out was a strategy we tried during the late 2000s and early 2010s. It was a disaster. We should only sign players after mapping out a clear plan for them rather than taking many shots in the dark and hoping one sticks.