Meet 14-year-old SM Caen forward Elye Wahi, who scored 89 goals last season

Aged just 14 years old, Elye Wahi is following in the footsteps of the French international and Chelsea midfielder Ngolo Kanté, Le Parisien report. The striker began at Suresnes and is currently playing with SM Caen, where he scored 89 goals last season.

Elye Wahi’s introduction during a U17 friendly between PSG and Caen at the Camp des Loges did not go unnoticed, as he put away a powerful header into the top corner of the net, and pulled off a skilful run pas the defence followed by a successful one-on-one against the Parisian goalkeeper. PSG’s new youth academy coach, Luis Fernandez, observed the powerful Norman striker (1m78, 72 kg), playing in this age category for the first time; as he scored a double and made a great impression despite the 5-2 loss.

He is continuing his great run from last year, where he scored a measly… 89 goals! “It was difficult yesterday because my calf was hurting”, panted the Caen starlet. “I can do better. But scoring is an obsession for me!”

Even if they do not play the same position, the Courcouronnes native (Essonne – Southern suburb of Paris) has a similar path to a certain N’Golo Kanté. Similarly, to the Blues and France defensive midfielder, Elye Wahi began at JS Suresnes (Hauts-de-Seine – Western suburb of Paris). The fatherless Franco-Ivorian would spend nearly every day at the Maurice-Hubert stadium playing football.

“I remember a game against Racing where Elye scored five goals. He even managed a bicycle kick from the halfway mark onto the bar,” says Piotr Wojtnya, the youth team supervisor in Suresnes who also knew N’Golo Kanté. “With regards to his age, he is a phenomenon. He can make the difference at any moment with the ball.”

So, at the same age, who was better? “N’Golo was a very hard worker with great intelligence. Elye is a diamond in the rough who needs to progress mentally. The kid has a gift. I just hope he will not let it go to waste, because there is quite a long way to go”.

After having played for the Hauts-de-Seine club between the ages of 6 and 13, Elye was recruited by Caen in May 2016. His 89 goals scored with the U14 and U15 teams last season gave European clubs quite the appetite. Contrarily to PSG who did not pick him up, Liverpool, Tottenham, Southampton, Manchester City, Manchester Untied and Juventus all enquired, even though the Year 9 student cannot sign for a club outside of France before the age of 16.

“Elye is an interesting player,” assured a scout for one of Europe’s great clubs; “he is a powerful, technical, fast and agile striker. He has a good eye for goal, even if he is sometimes a bit too greedy.” “He has great potential, and reminds me of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.” Said another recruiter from the Premier League.

This summer, his father in law hired a personal trainer and mental coach to help him improve. It certainly paid off, as he won the golden boot (nine goals) during the Vinci cup (U15 international tournament), and scored four goals and racked up five assists during his first championship game with the U15 Caen team last Sunday. The Ile-de-France native concluded saying, “I want to be a professional, but I know that I still have a lot of work to do before making my dream come true”.

Y.H.

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