Said Benrahma may have played last game at West Ham United after what he did v Liverpool, January sale on cards
Said Benrahma may well have wasted his last chance to play again at West Ham United after another underwhelming display against Liverpool in the EFL Cup.
The Hammers were completely blown away on Wednesday night (20 December) as they saw their EFL Cup hopes ended at Anfield in a disappointing 5-1 defeat at the quarter-final stage.
Benrahma started the match for David Moyes – just his 11th in all competitions so far this campaign – but was replaced by Lucas Paqueta after just 57 minutes in yet another shocker from the Algerian.
Reputable French news outlet L’Equipe reported on 8 December that French Ligue 1 side Lyon want to sign him in January as they look to steer clear of the drop zone.
The Athletic also shared on 21 December that the forward may well be on his way out in January which certainly suggests that the game against Liverpool could have been his last in a West Ham United shirt, given Moyes’ reluctance to start him all season.
Against Liverpool, the attacker was nowhere to be seen once again, touching the ball just 23 times, completing just 73% of his passes, failed to register a single key pass, or a single shot, lost possession seven times and was dribbled past once [SofaScore]
When West Ham United made Benrahma their third-most expensive player in 2021, signing from Brentford in a deal up to £30m, many fans thought the Algerian would go on to become the star player they needed after losing the qualities of Dimitri Payet.
His tremendous highlight reels in West London were one of the main reasons the Irons signed him up then.
Fast forward over two years, and Benrahma hasn’t hit the heights many expected despite the Europa Conference League win in June, instead becoming somewhat of an overrated commodity.
In his two years at the club, Benrahma has gone on to bag 24 goals and 19 assists from 151 appearances [Transfermarkt] and given his current situation, it’s highly unlikely he’d make another before the year is out which could derail his chances to feature for Algeria at the African Cup of Nations in January.
It appears there is no shortage of options should Benrahma quit East London, but that exit feels inevitable now after a string of underwhelming displays and a struggle to gain any regular minutes thanks to the emergence of Paqueta, Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen.
The Liverpool game is surely his last as a Hammer.
In other West Ham news, an international boss was wowed by one West Ham star live on talkSPORT.