West Ham United have begun working on a deal to sign 21-year-old striker Elye Wahi from French club Lens, according to a report from L’Equipe.

Leicester City and West Ham are the main clubs in the running to sign the Frenchman this summer, with Chelsea also unsurprisingly holding an interest.  The forward has a market value of €35m according to Transfermakt, however, it would take at least €45m to tempt Lens into selling their talisman. Lens signed Wahi from Montpellier for €30m last summer after an impressive season in the south of France.

Wahi had a decent season for Lens last season, he scored twelve goals and provided nine assists in 37 appearances in all competitions, including 3 goal contributions in six Champions League appearances. He scored a goal and provided an assist as Lens defeated Arsenal 2-1 at home in the group stages. However, it was the season before that really put Wahi on the map. In 22/23 he bagged nineteen goals and made six assists in 33 Ligue 1 matches for midtable Montpellier.

West Ham reportedly had interest in signing Wahi from Montpellier last summer, in August, French outlet RMC reported that the Hammers were closing in on a deal worth around €30m around the same time the Kudus deal was being completed. Tim Steidten was eager to bring the Frenchman in after such an outstanding season, however, a move didn’t go any further after confirming the signing of Mohammed Kudus, who has proven to be a revelation in claret and blue.

According to The Scouting App, Elye Wahi starts as Center forward, but his versatility and polyvalence allow him to also perform as winger in either left or right side. He is the kind of forward that provides verticality, electricity and unbalance, aside from great goal contributions. Elye Wahi is the classical mobile striker and is difficult to defend. He usually exits his reference position to support widely on the side, attack from blind spots and surprise the defenders on his back. In that sense, he is not the classical striker, he loves to be involved in the game, as he enjoys and gets determinant playing off the ball to provide goal scoring chances.

This means he isn’t really a stereotypical Julen Lopetegui striker, he likes his number nine to be in the penalty box at all times as the other players create for him. However, his talent, movement and finishing ability is something that could help him become a star in East London. One of his main strengths as a forward is his heading ability, something that Lopetegui loves in a number nine because he loves his teams to cross the ball.

West Ham seem to have moved on from Jhon Duran, after seeing at least three bids rejected for the Colombian. Borussia Dortmund and Germany striker Niclas Fullkrug seems to be the clubs main target now. Who with two years remaining on his contract and at 31-years-old, could be a much cheaper option than Wahi, meaning the rest of the funds could be used elsewhere.

However, the striker position is on the Hammers really need to focus on mastering this summer with Michail Antonio and Danny Ings struggling for goals. Elye Wahi would likely do that, and would match Tim Steidten’s vision of making the average age of the West Ham squad decrease massively. A front four of Wahi, Kudus, Paqueta and Bowen would be by far one of the most exciting quartets in European football, with a fine balance of youthfulness and experience.