Report: West Ham remain confident of £30m Benrahma transfer after deal hits snag
West Ham are still hopeful of completing a deal for Brentford attacker Said Benrahma despite hitting a “snag” due to issues between the player and his current club, the London Evening Standard has reported.
The newspaper claims that the Hammers have agreed a fee worth £30million, plus add-ons, for the 25-year-old.
Benrahma was expected to undergo a medical with the Irons on Wednesday after returning from international duty with Algeria but an issue now seems to have arisen between him and Brentford.
Despite this, West Ham are set on signing Benrahma and are hoping that this hurdle is overcome before the domestic transfer window slams shut at 5pm on Friday.
However, the Evening Standard adds that if that does not happen, West Ham could return with a new bid for Bournemouth forward Joshua King after an opening offer of £13million was rejected by the Championship club at the weekend.
Although King would likely be far cheaper than Benrahma, the Norway international does offer a lot of Premier League experience – which is more than can be said about Benrahma.
The Algeria forward has lit up the Championship with his performances in the last year but has never set foot in the Premier League in his career.
However, that doesn’t mean he is unable to make the step up. As we’ve seen first-hand with Jarrod Bowen, there are plenty of players in the second-tier who are more than capable of shining in the Premier League.
Benrahma would arrive with a bigger price-tag – and a bigger reputation – that Bowen did, especially after playing such a key role in Brentford’s impressive Championship campaign last season when they finished third and reached the play-off final.
Benrahma scored 17 goals and supplied 10 assists in 46 league appearances for the Bees last term and stats by WhoScored show that no one averaged more shots at goal per game [3.9] or dribbles per match [3.1] than him in the Championship.
If there’s a player in the second-tier who’s ready for the Premier League – it’s Benrahma.
It’s no shock that Brentford might be doing whatever they can to ensure he doesn’t leave the club before Friday.
In other West Ham news, David Gold has welcomed Craig Dawson to the London Stadium.