Elye Wahi
 Wahi in 2022 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sepe Elye Delmas Wahi | ||
| Date of birth | 2 January 2003 | ||
| Place of birth | Courcouronnes, France | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Lens | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2009–2016 | Suresnes | ||
| 2016–2018 | Caen | ||
| 2018 | Montfermeil | ||
| 2018–2020 | Montpellier | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2019–2020 | Montpellier II | 11 | (3) |
| 2020–2023 | Montpellier | 85 | (32) |
| 2023– | Lens | 15 | (2) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2019 | France U16 | 2 | (0) |
| 2019 | France U17 | 1 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | France U19 | 10 | (4) |
| 2023– | France U20 | 2 | (0) |
| 2022– | France U21 | 12 | (3) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:22, 28 January 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15:13, 17 November 2023 (UTC) | |||
Sepe Elye Delmas Wahi (born 2 January 2003) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Lens.
Early life
Sepe Elye Delmas Wahi was born on 2 January 2003 in Courcouronnes, Essonne. He is of Ivorian descent.
Club career
Caen
While a youth player at Caen, Wahi made headlines for scoring 89 goals in the 2016–17 season as an under-14 and under-15 player.
Montpellier
On 17 October 2019, Wahi signed his first professional contract with Montpellier. He made his professional debut in a 2–0 Ligue 1 loss to Metz on 16 December 2020.
Wahi scored his first goal for Montpellier in a 3–2 loss to Monaco on 15 January 2021. In doing so, he became the club's second-youngest ever goal scorer at the age of 18 years and 13 days. On 14 March 2022, Wahi signed a contract extension at Montpellier. On 29 December 2022, by scoring his twentieth career Ligue 1 goal in a 2–0 away win over Lorient, Wahi became only the second teenager after Kylian Mbappé to reach this milestone in the previous forty years. He quickly became the second youngest player in the history of Ligue 1 to reach the landmark of 25 goals in the competition. On 7 May 2023, he scored four goals in fifteen minutes for Montpellier in a 5–4 away defeat to Lyon.
Lens
On 20 August 2023, Wahi signed a five-year contract with Lens following a €35 million transfer from Montpellier. The deal became Lens's record arrival, Montpellier's record sale, and the second-biggest transfer between two Ligue 1 clubs. On the same day, he was presented to the Stade Bollaert-Delelis ahead of a match against Rennes, holding his new number 9 shirt. On 29 September, he scored his first goal at the club in a 1–0 away win over Strasbourg. On 3 October, he scored his first UEFA Champions League goal and provided an assist in a 2–1 home victory over Arsenal, winning the player of the match award.
International career
Wahi is a youth international for France. He had a single cap with France U17, where he played against Italy U17 on 3 December 2019. The match ended in a 1–1 draw.
With France U19, he scored a goal against England U19 on 6 October 2021, in a 3–1 win. He then also scored in the next game against Mexico U19, which ended in a 4–1 victory.
In September 2022, Wahi was called up for the first time with France U21 by manager Sylvain Ripoll. He went on to score his first goal on his second cap for the national side against Belgium U21.
Controversies
In October 2021, a 22-year old woman filed a legal complaint against Wahi for violence that resulted in her being incapable to work. She claimed that he had punched her in the nose during an evening out at the L'Entrepôt nightclub in Lattes, Hérault, on the night of 12–13 September a month earlier.
In November 2021, investigative reporter Romain Molina revealed an allegation that Wahi had been expelled from Caen's youth academy for pressuring secondary school students to masturbate in front of him in the bathrooms.
Career statistics
- As of match played 28 January 2024
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Montpellier II | 2018–19 | Championnat National 3 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20 | Championnat National 2 | 7 | 1 | — | — | 7 | 1 | |||
| 2020–21 | Championnat National 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — | 3 | 2 | |||
| Total | 11 | 3 | — | — | 11 | 3 | ||||
| Montpellier | 2020–21 | Ligue 1 | 18 | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | 22 | 3 | |
| 2021–22 | Ligue 1 | 33 | 10 | 3 | 0 | — | 36 | 10 | ||
| 2022–23 | Ligue 1 | 33 | 19 | 0 | 0 | — | 33 | 19 | ||
| 2023–24 | Ligue 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 85 | 32 | 7 | 0 | — | 92 | 32 | |||
| Lens | 2023–24 | Ligue 1 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 22 | 4 |
| Career total | 111 | 37 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 125 | 39 | ||
- Appearances in UEFA Champions League
Honours
Individual