Chelsea 'restart pursuit' of £29m star who had 'no regrets' after snubbing them last year

Chelsea have reportedly approached RC Lens with a view to signing Elye Wahi this summer. The 21-year-old striker was heavily linked with a move to Stamford Bridge last year before snubbing the Blues to stay in France.

And he was confident that he had made the right decision despite missing out on a lucrative move to the Premier League. “Chelsea – I didn’t want to go there just for the sake of it,” Wahi said after leaving Montpellier to join Lens in a £29million deal. “I don’t have any regrets.”

One year on, Chelsea are threatening to test Lens’ resolve. According to L’Equipe, Enzo Maresca’s side have ‘come forward’ to reaffirm their interest.

And they are now waiting to discover what kind of offer it would take to prise Wahi away from his homeland. The youngster scored nine goals and registered three assists for Lens in Ligue 1 last season.

The year before that he hit 19 for Montpellier – more than Lionel Messi notched for Paris Saint-Germain in the same campaign. It remains to be seen whether a solid 2023/24 season has driven up Wahi’s price tag since Lens’ £29m outlay.

Chelsea have been hard at work in the summer transfer window, with five new permanent signings already bedding in under Maresca.

One of them, Marc Guiu, could be in direct competition with Wahi for a spot up top if Chelsea press ahead with a move for the Frenchman. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Omari Kellyman should also give the Blues an extra bite at the top end of the pitch, while Tosin Adarabioyo and Renato Veiga have been recruited to sure things up at the back.

Chelsea have raised a significant amount of cash through the sales of Ian Maatsen, Lewis Hall and Omari Hutchinson, while Hakim Ziyech and Thiago Silva have both been moved off the wage bill since last season.

Maresca’s squad is coming together as he prepares for his debut season as a Premier League manager. “I’m very excited,” he said after joining from Leicester City. “One of the reasons I’m here is because I’m convinced the squad is very good and full of talent.

“The most important thing now is we’re able to create the right culture that drives us for the season. I always say the same: if you are able to improve players then you are able to improve the team. So it is our target to try to improve all of them day by day.”