'Offer accepted' - Chelsea and West Ham to be beaten to £21m Olympics medallist

Chelsea and West Ham are set to be beaten to the signing of Lens forward Elye Wahi by Ligue 1 outfit Marseille this summer.

The Blues and Hammers had been hotly linked with interest in the 21-year-old former Montpellier star. Wahi enjoyed an impressive campaign last time out with 12 goals and four assists in all competitions for Lens.

The young French star, who was part of the nation's silver medal-winning Paris Olympics 2024 side this summer, plays as a centre-forward and joined Lens from Montpellier for around £30 million just last summer.

French football reporter Fabrice Hawkins has provided the latest update, confirming that a €25 million fee, around £21 million, has been agreed between Marseille and Lens for the player, who still has four years left on his current deal.

Hawkins wrote: "Marseille have accepted a transfer offer in principle of €25m + add-ons for Elye Wahi. The parties are confident [it will be completed]."

The journalist also adds that should the deal fall through for any reason, then Marseille would reignite interest in Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah. The 25-year-old has also been heavily linked with a move to France in recent weeks.

As recently as Tuesday, L'Equipe reported that Chelsea still held interest in Wahi, with news of Marseille's progress no doubt a blow for any hopes of that transfer at Stamford Bridge. That report did confirm that there was yet to be an official bid made from the West London side.

Wahi was also linked with a Chelsea move last summer and confronted those rumours at the time. He said: "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."

Last week, RMC Sport also claimed that West Ham were looking at the player with an offer on the table but that staying in Ligue 1 had emerged as the player's preference.