West Ham have “entered the race ” to buy Lens striker Elye Wahi, according to L’Equipe.

The French newspaper reports that the Hammers and Leicester City have joined Chelsea in pursuing the forward’s signature.

Wahi only moved to Lens from Montpellier for €30m last year but the Ligue One side have decided to offload the player after just one season.

West Ham were linked with the 21-year-old even before he made the switch to Lens so their interest is not a complete surprise.

Henry is a big fan of Wahi

Speaking as a pundit after the striker scored against Arsenal in the Champions League back in October, Gunners legend Thierry Henry said:

“This guy you see on the screen had a hell of a finish on the second goal. Elye is special. Lens loves to play with their wing-backs – we are going to talk about how he stayed away from (William) Saliba.”

“You will see that you don’t need to break your neck. He will beat you to the first post. Stay in a good position between the two lines, Frankowski sees it and Wahi does that to a tee. He can finish so well.”

West Ham have prioritised the signing of another No.9

Despite the club’s reported interest in Wahi, though, it does look like technical director Tim Steidten has made Borussia Dortmund’s Niclas Fullkrug his top target.

After failing to secure the services of Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran, reports in both the English and German media have confirmed that the Irons have begun negotiations to snap up Fullkrug.

With the 31-year-old having less than two years left on his contract, he is unlikely to be that expensive. In fact, Wahi would probably cost substantially more so the pursuit of the Dortmund forward is likely down to the price.

Find out who is in West Ham’s first-team squad for 2024/2025 season here