View: Tottenham want to make a move for talented youngster Elye Wahi
Tottenham are currently blessed with plenty of attacking talent, but are reportedly keen to add more to their ranks.
Harry Kane, Richarlison, Son Heung-min, Manor Solomon, Dejan Kulusevski and Bryan Gil are just some of the forward options Ange Postecoglou has at his disposal.
Not to mention the likes of Giovani Lo Celso and James Maddison who offer plenty of threat from midfield. Despite this, the club are reportedly interested in Elye Wahi of Montpellier, according to Midi Libre (26 July).
The French publication reported online that Spurs are set to bid for the 20-year-old who is also wanted by Premier League rivals Chelsea. An offer has already been made by the Blues but Montpellier’s president, Laurent Nicollin, said: “The amount proposed was not up to our expectations.”
And now it seems as if Postecoglou’s men are interested in joining the race for the young Frenchman and despite their priorities currently lying elsewhere, such as the obvious need for defensive reinforcements, Wahi’s stats make it hard to blame the North London club for throwing their hat into the ring.
First and foremost, for the age of 20, his goalscoring numbers are simply incredible. Last season in Ligue 1 he featured 33 times and scored 19 goals as well as providing six assists. It was his second season as a consistent starter for the club – the season before he made 21 league starts in 33 appearances and scored 10 goals.
Having featured through the middle as well as out wide throughout his short career so far, his versatility makes him a threat and it is clear to see why there is interest from the Premier League and from Spurs’ Australian boss.
A deeper dive into the stats also suggests there is much more than meets the eye and when compared with forwards from Europe’s top five leagues over the past calendar year, Wahi certainly held his own.
As per fbref, he was in the top nine per cent of goalscorers across the continent’s top five divisions, scoring 0.68 goals per 90, which was on par with Spurs’ greatest goalscorer and one of the best strikers in the world, Harry Kane, over the same timeframe.
But he brings a lot more than just goals to his team. Wahi was impressively in the top one per cent compared to his positional peers for the percentage of his shots that were on target (58.1 per cent per 90) demonstrating his efficiency in front of goal. As well as this he scored 0.29 goals per shot that he took per 90, placing him in the top two per cent in regard to this particular statistic.
His statistics in possession were also impressive. The France Under-21 international made 1.43 carries into the final third and 1.29 carries into the penalty area per 90, ranking him in the top 18 per cent and 13 per cent when it came to these statistics.
Although the stats suggest that the player is a promising talent who could really flourish within Postecoglou’s attacking brand of football, interest from Chelsea and the club’s need for recruits elsewhere might force them to miss out on the target.
It is not worth a bidding war with their London rivals as money will be needed elsewhere and Spurs should pass up on this opportunity, despite how exciting it is.
Whoever does land Wahi, however, has a real gem on their hands.
In other Tottenham news, there has been a positive senior appointment within the club’s women’s team.