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Benrahma : A Lesson in Lost Potential ?

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West Ham United are facing a potential transfer blunder with the news that Lyon is set to buy Said Benrahma for a mere £15 million.

Benrahma arrived at West Ham in 2020, quickly becoming a fan favourite with his creativity and flair on the wing. However, the 2023/24 season saw him sidelined by manager David Moyes. This questionable decision ultimately led to a loan move to Lyon.

Benrahma has thrived at Lyon, showcasing his abilities with 3 goals and 4 assists in 15 games. Now, Lyon can buy him for a significantly reduced price compared to what West Ham paid. This represents a significant financial loss for the Hammers.

David Moyes’ decision to limit Benrahma’s playing time is now under fire. His recent resurgence in form raises questions about the now departed Moyes’ tactical approach and his ability to utilise Benrahma’s talent.

West Ham faces a difficult situation. They’ve lost a talented player at a discount and are now left scrambling for replacements in attacking positions. This could have been avoided by utilising Benrahma and ensuring his development within the squad.

Yes, I know he was prone to bouts of inconsistency but in my book he is a fine player.

The Benrahma saga serves as a cautionary tale for West Ham. Ignoring player potential, questionable management decisions, and a lack of foresight in squad building can have significant consequences. West Ham needs to learn from this mistake and ensure better utilisation of their talent pool in the future.

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18 comments

  • Morkus says:

    I can’t stand those who criticise Declan. he could have agitated for a move 2yrs earlier and earned himself more money elsewhere. I’m guessing those who call him judas have stayed loyal to the first employer who gave them a job and have never looked to move upwards for career progression or to earn more money

  • Ian Lain says:

    I’m not sure Benny was really premiership quality. A good dribbler and capable of some magic moments, but his decision making and end product were consistently poor. Regularly cutting inside and trying to score a wonder goal rather than play other players in.

  • West Ham Fan No 32 says:

    The same could be said of Scamacca, Haller, Felipe Anderson to name a few.

    Moyes and Allardyce before him are great at stabilising sinking ships, not so great at developing attacking players. There is a ceiling on what they can do as managers which is clear when you look at how their teams perform over time.

  • Steve says:

    Come on, he ran down blind alleys and final ball, be it shot, pass or cross were terrible. The odd flash of genius doesn’t outweigh the hundreds of head in hand moments watching him. Clearly wasn’t good enough for the EPL and people viewing him with rose coloured glasses. French league is his level

  • simon says:

    another pointless article, Lyon have a transfer ban, so cant buy him.

  • Martin61 says:

    Will always love Benny for THAT pen, but the reality is he is a lower half EPL player as he is and has always been inconsistent. The French league will be ideal for him and given his age, pressure on football finances etc £15m is a reasonable figure and should go someway to get a young replacement.

  • Deathblow says:

    Massive blunder, Never thought he was good enough for the EPL, and DM was never going to be able to man-manage him properly, not to mention our 2nd Division coaching staff. But 15 million is embarrassing. We never sell our players for decent money, apart from Judas Rice. Look at the pitiful money we got for Seb Haller with zero sell-on fee. Even Scamacca was sold below his worth. I bet there’s no selll-on fee there either.
    Let’s hope these days are over because we get charged a fortune but other clubs know us as a desperate soft touch..

    • Charles says:

      Didn’t know we had a player called Judas Rice, we were lucky enough to have a player named Declan Rice, who after being a fine player for West Ham decided to ply his trade elsewhere, anybody calling him is a no nothing ****head.

  • John Ayris says:

    It doesn’t work like that. Benrahmas value will have been written down year on year in the accounts, his contract will be shorter is worth less and he’s got older is worth less. The only way that his value might increase or stay the same even is if he was ripping up trees with his performances. Nobody here would say that was so. £15M doesn’t sound unreasonable given all of that, take it and invest in a player who may make a positive impact.

    • Benny the Aussie says:

      Agree John, my thinking is the same.
      A decent player but not great and worth 15mil now.

  • Ironman Sim says:

    Yes, he can be frustrating but he is a confidence player and freezing him out and actively trying to offload him when we have invested so much money in him is also not right. In his second full season, he had a massive pre-season and started the year really well. That was roughly the mid way point of his hammers career. Then sadly things just went off the boil and he increasingly became disinterested. He is ultimately responsible for his own career but Moyes in his role of “manager” should also have worked with him for the sake of the team.

  • B says:

    3 goals, 4 assists in a league that’s probably Scottish Premiership standard is hardly ripping it up!?
    Bene has some skills, but his end-product was clearly lacking.

  • Dave says:

    Remember he’s playing in a very poor league now.
    Top 3 then the rest are championship….
    Funnily enough that was the level he thrived at.

  • Kristov says:

    He was rubbish for us , not strong enough or fast enough for the Premier league.
    Along with bottling most challenges.

    • B-ry says:

      I will always believe that the only reason we changed his loan to a purchase is that it freed up the last remaining loan spot to bring in Lingard (which short-term worked out very well). Benrahma should, always, have stayed as a loan until he proved himself worth a contract. Oh well, thanks for THAT penalty, Benny…

      • Jay says:

        He was never on loan to us, we bought him outright…..

        • Steve says:

          He was loan with option to buy, and indeed as B-ry says we made it permanent so we could get in another loaner

          • Nigel says:

            He was an exceptional player, but one who needed confidence and regular appearances, when he was brought on as a sub, and didn’t flourish, he hid behind defenders, not to get the ball.
            But when on form, as good as anyone down the left. I’d have him back under the new manager

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