Kopa Prize nominee reveals why he rejected Chelsea
Robin Bairner
- 9 Sept 2023 15:02 BST
- 3 min read
Elye Wahi has detailed the reasons why he completed a summer transfer from Montpellier to Lens and not Chelsea.
Wahi, who has been nominated for the Kopa Prize in the Ballon d’Or awards, was one of the players linked with a move to Stamford Bridge in the summer.
A mobile striker, he was the type of player that the Blues were chasing to bolster their attacking options, but after bagging 19 goals in Ligue 1 last season, he instead made a €30 million move to Champions League-bound Lens.
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He admits that Chelsea were interested in him but says that he was actually closer to moving to Eintracht Frankfurt instead.
“Chelsea? I didn’t want to go there,” he told L’Equipe. “Frankfurt were close – closer than Chelsea.
“I spoke with the coach there. He speaks French, which was important for me. But we had to wait for the departure of Randal Kolo Muani and waiting for his move was too complicated. I have no regrets.
“My first objective was to stay in France, so I think I made the right choice. At the very beginning, there were no French clubs, only a few contacts from Monaco. Over time, Lens came and we managed to get along.”
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Wahi's transfer wish
Wahi, who revealed that he had trials with Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund when he was younger, says he wishes a deal had been done earlier in the summer.
Asked if he was afraid no deal would come, he replied: “Not fear, but I would have preferred it to happen a little sooner. Afterwards, I really liked having that adrenaline of waiting. Nobody knew how it was going to end.”
Wahi scored two goals for France U21s against Denmark on Thursday – Thierry Henry’s first match in charge of the young French side.
