Who is Said Benrahma? Strengths and weaknesses of West Ham's new wing-wizard
West Ham endured a quiet transfer window. "I cannot say for sure that we are going to sign anybody. As each day passes I am getting more depressed," co-owner David Sullivan said last month and while the Hammers brought in Vladimir Coufal between Sullivan's admittance and the deadline to go with the permanent capture of Tomas Soucek, it was a disheartening summer for the club and fans.
West Ham finished just five points clear of relegation last summer, so investment was necessary. Despite the lack of new faces, though, the Hammers have made a solid start to the campaign. They have followed up back-to-back defeats with successive victories over European chasing pair Wolves and Leicester, which has lifted spirits.
What's important, though, is that West Ham didn't rest on their laurels and sought to maximise the domestic transfer window. Premier League teams could still do business with EFL sides up until today, yet the east London side left it late to add to the squad by bringing in Said Benrahma from Brentford.
Considered by many to be the most talented player in the Championship, West Ham have done exceptionally well to lure Benrahma to the London Stadium. Secured on a loan deal with an option to buy, the Algerian is a fine capture for David Moyes' side and a statement of intent given the quality of sides who were linked with Benrahma in recent months.
Indeed, Chelsea had previously courted the winger, while a host of Premier League teams had been monitoring Benrahma. Once the final whistle blew on the 2019/20 Championship season, and Brentford had lost their playoff final meeting with west London rivals Fulham, it was a case of 'when', not 'if', Benrahma would be a Premier League player. The only surprise is that it has taken until now for that to come to fruition.
Ollie Watkins' big money move to Aston Villa gave Premier League sides an idea of how much they'd need to spend to sign Benrahma and even though he has rarely featured in one of Europe's top five leagues - he made just four Ligue 1 starts for Nice and Angers between 2013 and 2016 - Benrahma has the quality to succeed in the Premier League.
The departure of Felipe Anderson for FC Porto opened up a space for another winger in the West Ham squad and in Benrahma, the east London side have secured a tricky wideman with a fine end product to boot. Since the start of the 2019/20 Championship season, including the playoffs, Benrahma has completed more dribbles (142) than any other player to reinforce a strength of 'dribbling'.
To go with his ability to glide past an opponent, Benrahma scored 17 goals and provided nine assists for free-scoring Brentford last season and his second goal in the Bees' 3-0 Carabao Cup win over Fulham at the start of October brought to light his capacity to beat a defender and hit the back of the net with ease.
Considering the lack of output from West Ham's wingers last season, Benrahma will bring crucial drive from out wide and ease the pressure on the frontman, in this instance Michail Antonio in Moyes' favoured 5-4-1 setup, to routinely hit the back of the net. The same be said of Jarrod Bowen on the opposite flank, with the former Hull man and Antonio scoring five of West Ham's eight league goals in 2020/21 between them.
Either way, West Ham have another prolific goal threat to add to the books. He may not have had his chance to showcase his talents to the Premier League with Brentford, yet Benrahma's style of play means is he tailormade for England's top tier. Whether he gets the chance to really flourish for West Ham as he did for Brentford given the differing styles of play, it remains to be seen, but the Hammers have an exciting attacker in the squad who improves Moyes' offensive options considerably.
