Chelsea is apparently interested in Montpellier’s teenage striker Elye Wahi in their search for a new front. The 20-year-old scored 19 goals in Ligue 1 last year, helping Montpellier to a 12th-place finish. Even with the additions of Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig and Villarreal, respectively, the west London team is still looking for additional attacking reinforcements, and Chelsea is rumored to have made a bid for Wahi despite rumors linking them to moves for Victor Osimhen, Dusan Vlahovic, and Folarin Balogun.
- He is aware of where the net’s back is
Chelsea only scored 38 league goals last season, which was fewer than both Leicester and Leeds, who were both relegated, therefore attacking additions are required. Although the Blues have taken steps to address these problems, Wahi has subsequently been a target for Mauricio Pochettino’s team. Wahi was consistently successful in defeating the opposition goalie when given the opportunity to go for goal, scoring 19 goals overall, sixth highest in Ligue 1.
Only Neymar (34.2%) out of the 127 players who managed 25 or more shots last season had a higher conversion rate than Wahi (30.2%), supporting the statistically determined WhoScored strength of “finishing.” Jackson has the highest rate of conversion in La Liga.
2. He would provide Chelsea a another goal-scoring option.
In addition to Chelsea’s goal-scoring difficulties, they also had trouble scoring from crosses. In the Premier League last season, only Wolves (2) and Leicester (3) scored fewer headed goals than the Blues (5), yielding a 6.4% headed chance conversion percentage.
Wahi, in contrast, strengthened a WhoScored strength of ‘headed attempts’ last season with three headed goals, which was the seventh-most in France’s top division. Reece James and Ben Chilwell, when healthy, will provide width along the sides for Chelsea in Pochettino’s anticipated 4-2-3-1 formation, which will benefit the passes the English pair enter the box with.
3. Chelsea will be prepared with a counterattacking threat.
No team in the Premier League scored less counterattacking goals than Chelsea (1), and that was a consolation goal by Joao Felix in their 4-1 defeat at Manchester United in their last game of the season. That number ought to be larger given the players Stamford Bridge has on its books.
If Wahi transfers to Chelsea this summer, west London will gain another counter-attacking threat. The Frenchman has created a statistically determined WhoScored style of play of “counter attack threat,” which would benefit the Blues even though he only scored one goal on the counter last season.
4. Wahi isn’t scared to cause controversy.
Wahi is not only able to score goals, but he also has little problem getting under his opponents’ skin. Last season, Wahi averaged 1.1 fouls per 90 minutes in Ligue 1, and eight of those fouls resulted in yellow cards. Defending against the Montpellier guy is definitely not a regular 90 minutes for defenders!
5. He contributed to one of Ligue 1’s most exciting games.
Early in May, Lyon welcomed Montpellier to town for a typical Sunday match in France’s top division. But last season, spectators saw one of Ligue 1’s most fascinating matches. At the Groupama Stadium, Lacazette gave Lyon a 1-0 lead after 30 minutes, but Montpellier responded with two quick goals before halftime.
With Wahi scored all four Montpellier goals, La Paillade went up 4-1 in Lyon quickly after scoring twice more. In what was without a doubt one of the games of the season, L’OL came back to win 5-4 thanks to Lacazette, who, like Wahi, scored four goals.