West Ham United agree multi-million loan fee to get rid of Said Benrahma as deal tied up – L’Equipe
West Ham United have now reached an agreement with Lyon for the sale of Said Benrahma on a temporary loan, according to L’Equipe.
The French news outlet shared (30 January) that the deal to sign the Algerian international also includes a non-obligatory purchase option where OL can sign the attacking midfielder permanently.
The transfer which will see the West Ham star arrive at the Groupama Stadium within hours could be worth an eventual €15m (£12.8m) if the former Brentford attacker signs for Les Gones on a permanent basis.
Lyon will pay a €5million (£4.2m) loan fee for the 28-year-old until the end of the season and then will have the option to buy worth an additional €10million (£8.5m) should they want to keep the Algerian attacker beyond the summer.
Bye bye
This will be extremely good news for Hammers fans, considering the player’s lack of form this season. With Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus all preferred to him, the Algerian has made five league starts.
Even when granted the opportunity by David Moyes to step up to the plate in the midst of an injury crisis at London Stadium, Benrahma was nowhere to be seen which may have suggested his head was elsewhere.
£15m fee for a player who hasn’t enjoyed a decent 90-minute display for the club is an excellent business and a deal that technical director Tim Steidten would not have been hesitant to accept.
Certainly, it is an initial loan deal but this frees up space for the Hammers to bring any replacement before Thursday’s deadline and it remains to be seen whether the Algerian will still be a West Ham player when the 2024/25 campaign kicks off.
However, given his dreadful form for the best part of a year, the Irons faithful will now be giving their farewells to the Algerian and it will be a permanent one despite being a temporary loan.
Considering West Ham’s targets of Ibrahim Osman and Al Ittihad’s Jota, it is clear the club want at least one new winger before the transfer window closes on 1 February and that fee could well fund what they need.
In other West Ham news, the man at the centre of a transfer window controversy wants the Hammers to sign him.
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