Exclusive: McAvennie pleased with permanent West Ham deal for Benrahma
We’re delighted to welcome former West Ham United striker Frank McAvennie as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the London Stadium…
Frank McAvennie is pleased with the news that Said Benrahma’s loan deal at West Ham has been converted into a permanent one.
On Wednesday, Sky Sports reported that Benrahma has become a full-time West Ham player after a £20million deal, plus add-ons, was completed with Brentford.
It is understood that converting Benrahma’s deal into a permanent one frees up a loan spot in David Moyes’ squad amid interest in signing Manchester United’s Jesse Lingard on a temporary basis.
McAvennie is happy with the Benrahma deal because of the improvement he has shown at the London Stadium under Moyes’ leadership.
Speaking to West Ham Zone, he said: “It’s a good deal because he’s played here and shown he can do it,”
“David kept him in even though he was losing the ball and that but he’s not doing it now.”
Benrahma had a slow start to life in East London after arriving on an initial loan deal from Brentford in the last transfer window.
He had to wait until the game against Leeds on December 11 to get his first Premier League start for the Irons but in recent weeks, he’s been a mainstay of Moyes’ starting line-up.
Since the 0-0 draw with Southampton on December 29, when he came off the bench, Benrahma has started all six matches and all have resulted in wins.
The Algeria international appears to be improving every week and that is something that Moyes can be thanked for with the Scot saying in December that he needs to work on his ball retention [Evening Standard].
That appears to have improved now, in the eyes of McAvennie so we don’t see how this permanent deal for the Algerian can have any drawbacks.
In other West Ham news, the Irons have made an approach to sign Jesse Lingard on loan.