Lyon make contract offer to Said Benrahma with permanent West Ham United exit on cards
Lyon have made a contract offer to West Ham winger Said Benrahma as they look to seal a £19.8m transfer in January, according to Santi Aouna.
Writing on the FootMercato website (3 January), the reliable transfer journalist reports that the Ligue 1 giants have moved ahead of Wolves and Fulham in the race for the Algeria international.
West Ham are open to selling the ex-Brentford man for £19.8m after he fell down the pecking order this season, but Benrahma is yet to make a decision on his future beyond this month.
“Olympique Lyon have made a contract offer to Said Benrahma,” he wrote. “No offer to West Ham yet.
“Fulham and Wolves are also on the Algerian, who has not yet made a decision on his future.
“OL will also have to convince West Ham. The French team has not yet made its proposal to the Hammers, which is asking for €23 million (£19.8m). According to our information, OL has enough liquidity to handle an outright transfer.”
Odd
For Lyon to be making contract offers to the team of Benrahma already, that means talks must have been held with West Ham in some way to establish if a deal is worth pursuing.
They’ve clearly been told the asking price that would be acceptable for the Hammers and they’re willing to continue going to get a deal done, and now it’s all about personal terms.
If Benrahma is open to the move and accepts their proposal then the Ligue 1 giants would likely return to the negotiating table with an offer and the two clubs would then settle on terms.
Benrahma is a player that West Ham fans would much rather see stay put at the club than allow to leave as he brings the floor of the squad up in terms of quality, but it’s understandable that he would rather play regularly elsewhere.
If a deal works for all parties then it would be silly not to do it, but a replacement would have to be targeted and acquired.
In other West Ham news, player could feature in FA Cup before leaving club according to reports.