CandH Exclusive
Said Benrahma will head for a West Ham medical this afternoon before being announced as the latest West Ham £30 million-plus signing.
The Brentford playmaker was described to us as 99 per cent certain to join the club assuming all goes well with the medical a little later.
The 25-year-old has agreed personal terms and we understand there are just i’s and t’s to be crossed at the Brentford end ahead of the signing being announced.
That the signing should come just a few days ahead of the Spurs clash at White Hart Lane will give the squad a big boost although at this stage it’s not clear if he will be registered in time to be included.
It’s also unclear whether a clause in the deal is included which would give the Bees a straight £8 million should the player be sold in the future, as was discussed early in the negotiations.
We understand from sources close to the deal that the player has agreed on personal terms of around £45k a week plus the usual appearances, goals and positional bonuses.
Clubs getting sell-on future deals is something I will never understand . Agents are sucking the game dry and need curtailing ASAP . Blood suckers & parasites all of them .
Hopefully we can get Benrahma over the line . Has to be a vast improvement on the not so good Diangana ., who never really looked that good anyway despite what some fans may say . I think fan opinion is very important , but Diangana never really reached what we need .
West Brom have not improved with him , so really that should be end of story .
Quick question why did we rid of Grady to buy Benrahma I am so confused surely the money would Have been better spent elsewhere on the pitch ..
Grady left because he wanted to. He could see that he was not going to get into the current team and wanted to play meaningful football. We didn’t need him.
Benrahma joins us because he is wanted and will make the team better. Money is always spent better elsewhere if that’s a consideration, but we shall no doubt be ‘spending’ more in the future.
Feeling good about this one. Progress beckons.
COYI
I think we will all see, in short order, that Benrahma is a significant upgrade on our home grown winger; even as good as he was. Hopefully we will get to see soon. If it goes ahead this is a really good signing.
Hi Sean 🙂
From what I have seen, I think Benrahma looks better than Grady; but he is also a few years older, so maybe Grady could have developed into something as good. I honestly think they wanted to spend the money on the defense, but didn’t get the targets they wanted, and when they managed to send Anderson on loan; this might have been the only decent investment they could do. I don’t think this would have happened if Anderson did not go out on loan.
I actually hope we get this one over the line, he has alot of energy and is a fighter with flair.
One thing that bothers me is that several sources indicates that Moyes did not want him, does anyone actually know if that is true or not? To me he seems like a good energetic player who is quick and good on the counter, so I think he would fit quite nice with Moyes philosophy?
Sean. Simple answer is Grady didn’t want to play for us and Said does.
Money is incidental.
COYI
Will be a great signing, think this guy could do what Payet did for us and you never know might reinvigorate Lanzini
I hope that Benrahma will be a star for us – maybe contributing more consistently than Payet (whose brilliance sometimes hid the fact that he sometimes blew hot and cold) – but now that we have bought him how does Lanzini (who I really like but has suffered from his injuries) get near the team ahead of Fornals, Haller and Yarmo?
At the minute he doesn’t and he will really have to work hard in training to get anywhere near…but lets hope his injuries are behind him and remembering how well Lanzini and Payet combined might just tempt Moyes at some stage in the future to try a similar formation but totally agree at the moment he gets nowhere near and our current formation is delivering
Look I’m not going to get carried way, I hate it when fans go over the top when we make one potential good signing, and forget everything else. Like we don’t know if he can make it in the prem yet. BUT…. yes we are going to win the league.
Not looking at how good each player is, more a thought on if the players who were upset about Grady will give this fella a warm welcome. They are all professionals but not being nasty doesn’t necessarily mean welcoming.
Good point. But Said is not a replacement for Grady. So why should any of the current squad think this way? Bound to be ‘sorry and sad’ to see Grady go – he had been with us since he was six! Nice to say you’re sad but should be pleased for Grady progressing with Slav. Think the Grady Bunch will be graet with Said. (unless he turns out to be an Arnie)
COYI
Earlier in the window it was widely reported that moyes wanted to sell Anderson and Lanzini. The player he wanted most, his main target, was supposedly Eze, the player that was signed by Crystal Palace. We didn’t have the money then and palace got in early. So that said. If people could believe Moyes wanted eze, why do people find it so hard to believe that moyes wouldn’t want Benrahma? Similar sort of player isn’t he? Can cover left wing or attacking midfield. Can replace Anderson or Lanzini roles.
Good point @Yarmolenko – we do not really know whether or not Moyes wanted Benrahma or whether he wanted King more. There is a story to that effect – which I have seen repeated by Sam Inkersole who is a Hammers fan – but that doesnt make it true
However the unfortunate truth is after that terrible Jim White interview that Sully did – when he boasted that he was the one who chose Fabianski and Issa Diop, such suspicions are bound to arise – no doubt if Berhana does well Sully will tell us that it was his signing whereas if he is less successful it will be a Moyes signing
We can just wait a) for the signing to be confirmed b) to hear what Moyes has to say about it and c) to see how long it takes to put Benrahma in the starting XI and then if he does well it doesnt really matter who chose him
Taffy Hammer.You are misinformed.Grady did not want to go.
Think the medical is the longest in history…wtf
He’s been having the medical for two days now. I’m starting to feel sorry for the poor chap. Can’t be going well.
Just seen a story that he’s failed the medical – Hugh do you have any update on that?