Leicester City and West Ham join Chelsea in their pursuit of the French forward

Leicester City have reportedly begun the process of signing Lens striker Elye Wahi in what would be a summer signing for the club.

L’Equipe report that City and West Ham have now emerged as candidates for the 21-year-old striker, who was linked with Chelsea earlier in the window. It appears, even just a year after signing the France youth international, that Lens are willing to sell.

However, Wahi cost €30m (£25m) a year ago and is therefore likely to cost more for those clubs interested in him this summer. This could price City City out of a move.

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Wahi made a name for himself at Montpellier and scored an impressive 19 goals for the club in 2022-23 to earn himself a big move to Lens. There, he didn’t quite reach the same heights.

Although there have been some impressive performances in the Champions League, notably the 2-1 win against Arsenal in which he scored one goal and set up the other, he has had a slow start at Lens in Ligue 1, scoring just twice in first 15 games. In all competitions, he finished with 12 goals in 37 appearances.

City boss Steve Cooper is desperate to land reinforcements in the transfer window and while a forward-thinking midfielder is a priority, he refused to rule out a striker being targeted. City have also been linked with Crystal Palace’s Jordan Ayew.

City currently have Patson Daka and Tom Cannon to choose from, with the latter a loan target for Championship clubs. Jamie Vardy is currently out with a minor injury.

Asked if he wanted to sign a new striker, Cooper said: “We have to see how Jamie is. He is not with us at the moment. Pato is here and Tom. We are still working on that process.

“I hope Jamie can come back as soon as possible because he looked so sharp before he had that knock. We all know what he can deliver next and I enjoyed working with him.

“That’s where I’m at right now with it. It’s too hard to say we need this and that, because it’s about putting a puzzle together where everyone clicks. We will see.”

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