Montpellier president Louis Nicollin says the club are in no rush to sell striker Elye Wahi.
Chelsea have seen an offer for the 20-year-old worth up to £24m rejected by the French club as the Blues look to develop their multi-club strategy.
Wahi is not deemed as ready for Mauricio Pochettino’s first-team at Stamford Bridge but would be loaned to newly purchased BlueCo – Chelsea’s parent company run by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital - club Strasbourg, now managed by Patrick Vieira.
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The Blues are permitted to send three players on loan there and will likely use the full allocation.
A temporary stint could open the door to a move to Chelsea in the future and the forward is keen to sign.
The French U21 international scored 19 goals and registered six assists in 33 appearances for the Ligue 1 side last season and could be joined at Strasbourg by Chelsea teenage signings Angelo Gabriel and Lesley Ugochukwu.
While Chelsea’s opening offer for the forward has been rejected, Nicollin hinted they would be willing to sell Wahi.
“There is no deadline,” he told RMC Sport.
“We are August 3rd. We agreed on an exit. We’ll think about it if the league starts and maybe we’ll put a deadline. There’s a month left of the transfer window. We’ve said certain things to each other.
“He’s training, we’ll see with him. If there’s nothing come the 20th or the 25th of August, we aren’t more stupid than anyone else. We’ll talk. He’ll be available for the first-team.”
