“I didn’t want to go there just for the sake of it,” Elye Wahi on collapsed Chelsea move

The 20-year-old forward was linked with various clubs before joining RC Lens

After spending three seasons with Montpellier in top-flight football, Elye Wahi was increasingly linked with a move away from the Ligue 1 outfit to the Premier League in the recently concluded transfer window. He attracted particular interest from Chelsea.

However, the move never materialised as the London club's interest seemed to be short-lived. Reports suggest that Wahi was not totally convinced by Chelsea’s project and he even mulled over a move to their rivals in London West Ham. However, the Hammers did not register any official interest in the player and as far as it is known, no club-to-club contact was made.

The 20-year-old French forward was heavily linked with a move to Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt, personal terms were reportedly agreed and both clubs had reached defining breakthroughs in negotiations. However, Frankfurt were eying Wahi to be a successor to outgoing forward Randal Kolo Muani.

His arrival was contingent on Kolo Muani’s smooth departure, which turned out to be one of the messiest transfer stories of the window, executed in the dying embers of deadline day. Kolo Muani’s delayed departure resulted in almost no time left to facilitate Wahi’s arrival. He eventually moved to RC Lens for a fee of €30m.

Speaking on his collapsed moves to Chelsea and Frankfurt, Wahi was quoted as saying:

“Chelsea – I didn’t want to go there just for the sake of it. Frankfurt was close, more so than Chelsea. I spoke with the manager there (Dino Toppmöller). He speaks French and that was important for me. They had to wait for Randal Kolo Muani’s departure and waiting for it was too complicated. I don’t have any regrets,” said the now Lens forward.