Chelsea's striker search has taken another twist, as the Blues have reportedly revived their interest in former target Elye Wahi.
The 21-year-old was believed to have been on Chelsea's wishlist last summer, having struck 19 goals in 33 Ligue 1 appearances for Montpellier HSC during the 2022-23 season.
Chelsea had apparently planned to loan Wahi to sister club Strasbourg had they been successful in their endeavours, and the player himself was open to joining the West London giants.
However, the Blues did not return after seeing a £24m offer knocked back, instead signing Nicolas Jackson from Villarreal as Lens won the race to sign Wahi for £25.3m.
The France Under-23 international did not hit the same goalscoring heights during his debut campaign in the gold strip, but he still conjured up a praiseworthy 12 strikes and four assists in 36 games.
Chelsea 'enquire' about Wahi transfer
One of Wahi's finest individual performances came against Arsenal in the Champions League group stage, where he set up Adrien Thomasson's equaliser before bagging the winning goal in a 2-1 success.
The 2003-born striker still has four years left to run on his contract with the Ligue 1 side, but according to French outlet L'Equipe, Chelsea have now reignited their pursuit of Wahi.
The Blues have apparently 'come forward' to enquire about Lens' price demands, as Wahi has informed his agents and club directors that he is open to another move away this summer.
Chelsea are yet to follow up their interest with an official bid, but the report adds that another unnamed side have also thrown their hat into the ring and have taken 'concrete' steps to prise him away from Stade Bollaert-Delelis.
It is unclear how much Lens will demand to sell their prized number nine, but given his contract situation, they would almost certainly demand a profit on the £25.3m that they forked out this time last year.
Two out, two in at Chelsea?
Should the Blues pull off a deal for Wahi, the Frenchman would become the second new striker to arrive at Stamford Bridge this summer after Chelsea triggered a release clause in Marc Guiu's Barcelona contract.
Before adding another centre-forward to their ranks, though, Chelsea should let either one or two move on, as Romelu Lukaku and Armando Broja are seemingly not in the plans of new boss Enzo Maresca.
Lukaku, who spent the 2023-24 season on loan with Roma, is thought to be keen to move to Napoli and reunite with Antonio Conte, a move that should come to fruition if Victor Osimhen joins Paris Saint-Germain.
Osimhen was previously linked with a switch to Stamford Bridge, but Napoli are expected to hold out for a fee of around €100m (£84.2m), pricing the Blues out of a move in the process.
Meanwhile, Broja recently revealed that he has received offers from three different leagues, despite failing to score in eight games during a disappointing loan spell with Fulham in the second half of last season. body check tags ::
