West Ham United have completed the signing of Said Benrahma on a season-long loan from Brentford.

The 25-year-old winger had been due to sign a permanent deal, but complications prompted West Ham to renegotiate the terms of the transfer.

It is believed West Ham have paid £4m to sign Benrahma on loan and have agreed to make the deal permanent at the end of the season for £21m, plus £5m in add-ons.

After Felipe Anderson joined FC Porto on transfer deadline day, West Ham do require reinforcements in the wide positions despite Pablo Fornals and Jared Bowen equally impressing after their star showings so far this season, especially in their 4-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers and the 3-0 away win at the King Power, thrashing Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City on gameweek 4.

Arguably the most decorated and exciting player currently playing in the Championship this past year. Brentford’s journey to the Championship play-off final – only to fall at the last hurdle to Fulham – saw Benrahma contribute a staggering 27 goals (17 goals, 10 assists) to Brentford’s 80 goals during the 2019/20 campaign.

It may not be Brentford gracing the Barclays Premier League this season, but Benrahma on the evidence of last season, deserves his own individual promotion. The Algerian is an extraordinary talent, one who’s quality is one any of the current ‘Top Six’ Premier League clubs could only dream of. West Ham will be the club richly blessed with his range of silky and stylish footballing qualities.

The Algerian international has already started this season off this season to a flier for Brentford, scoring 2 goals in 3 games in all competitions. Two goals of serious quality against Fulham in the Carabao Cup, especially his second showcasing his wonderful talents with an outrageous piece of skill nutmegging Michael Hector in an almost pirouette style before calmly slotting the ball in the bottom corner to make it a comfortable night for Brentford.

Said Benrahma is indeed the next Championship-to-Premier League star, following in the footsteps of his former teammate and Aston Villa’s new frontman Ollie Watkins who both tore up the Championship last season forming one of the best partnerships the division has ever seen.

Lining up on the left of Brentford’s 4-3-3 shape, Benrahma was their sole creative force, blessed with such unerring tricks, dribbling qualities, vision, imagination and a confidence that few players in the division can match. The Championship was accustomed to Benrahma’s showstopping highlight reels and his ever-changing boundaries that seemed impossible from the forward, now it seems the Premier League will finally be furnished with yet another unerring winger.

It will be interesting to see how Benrahma fits in at the London Stadium however, will he immediately slot into David Moyes’ 5-4-1 shape, playing either side of Michail Antonio at the expense of Fornals and Bowen or will Moyes find a way to accommodate him, shifting to a shape that will certainly get the best out of him?

Much of the reason why Brentford so often inspired in attack last season, was their propensity to keep possession, opening up passing lanes, key individuals picking up dangerous pockets of space to exploit the opposition. West Ham do not play the same way, often playing on the counter.

Benrahma is the sort of player who needs the ball a lot to work his magic, so the Algerian will of course need to adjust his game so when he finally gets the ball on the counter, he can still showcase his exceptional attacking skills, whilst also helping his team out defensively tracking his full-back and keeping a compact shape.

Jarrod Bowen and Pablo Fornals are in sparkling form right now, and it will be silly to make changes to a system that is working so well so far, which means Benrahma will indeed have to wait for his long-awaited opportunity. Though, the quality option off the bench will come as a priceless luxury for David Moyes giving him both quality in attack on and off the pitch.

When Said Benrahma plays, coming off the left-hand side, something special happens and West Ham have indeed required that sort of quality for a very long time, probably since the departure of Dimitri Payet in 2017, who shared similar qualities to the Algerian winger. The unpredictability and extravagant attacking qualities that could propel any side in the English top-flight.

West Ham now possess a player who can almost single-handedly catapult them to within arguably fighting for the Europa League places, a huge jump from their relegation struggles from last campaign, such a significant leap highlights just how much of an impact Said Benrahma could provide the Hammers.

It may something of an expensive risk by West Ham, but if David Moyes can get the best out of him like Brentford Thomas Frank did last season, then the club can finally give the West Ham faithful something to shout about.

Leave a comment