Elye Wahi’s (21) position as the starting number nine at Olympique de Marseille has come under threat after a slow start to the season since arriving on a summer move from RC Lens.
Wahi has yet to score from open play (his one goal of the campaign coming from a penalty in Marseille’s first game of the season) and has registered several disappointing performances. Wahi’s case has not been helped by the arrival of Neal Maupay (28) who has settled swiftly into the Marseille team since arriving on loan but with an obligation to buy from Everton.
On Maupay’s only start (the rest of his limited minutes coming from the bench) in a match against OGC Nice, the former Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion forward put the ball into the back of the net twice, although one of these was ruled out for being offside.
It has placed Wahi’s performances under the microscope and the pressure is on for the striker to perform against bottom-of-the-table Angers SCO in tomorrow evening’s fixture. However, his teammate, Gerónimo Rulli (32) has urged patience with the striker.
Gerónimo Rulli on Elye Wahi: ‘He’s a great player but he’s also very young.’
In today’s press conference, the Argentine international came to Wahi’s defence, “He’s a great player but he’s also very young. In football, you experience ups and downs when you’re young. The most important thing is that he has the confidence of the coach, the staff, and his teammates, and he has that. When he manages to score and regain confidence it’ll help us a lot. It’s a pleasure to have him with us, we must be a little patient.”
