The 25-year-old forward signed for £4 million on-loan from Brentford on deadline day, with an option to sign permanently for £26 million at the end of this season. Here, Playmaker’s Nathan John will take a look at what Hammers fans can expect to see from their new signing this season.
With Brentford and West Ham moving swiftly to get the deal over the line, Benrahma has signed initially on-loan for the season for £4 million, with the move open to be made permanent next summer for a fee of £26 million, if the club are willing to pursue and Benrahma impresses.
Hammers fans are sure to welcome the Deadline-day signing with open arms following his recent form and will look to see him break into the squad as quickly as possible, with the team’s tough run of upcoming fixtures including hosting Manchester City and then a trip to Anfield to face the champions Liverpool, in their next two fixtures.
From the start of the 2018/19 season onwards, the Algerian has been the most productive player in the Championship, with 50 goal involvements, 26 of those coming last season. Interestingly, this is one contribution more than now-Hammers teammate Jarrod Bowen, who signed for the club back in January of this year.
This follows the continuation of a trend which has seen the Hammers cherry pick the top talent from across the Championship, seeming almost as if the club have now made it their transfer policy to recruit players that are topping the charts in the country’s second division.
Benrahma will look to strengthen the Hammers attacking outlet this season, as he travels to the East side of the Capital, and follows in the long line of signings the Hammers have made from Championship sides over the past few seasons, including the likes of Robert Snodgrass, Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio.
Attacking creativity and goals are almost a certain with the forward who arrives at the London stadium with much anticipation from the Hammers faithful. The real test will be to see whether the forward can emulate his performances from the Championship into the Premier League, but with 27 goals and 23 assists to his name in his last two seasons, David Moyes will be confident in his new signing’s ability to continue this impressive form and keep firing for his new side.
Pundits and hammers fans alike are intrigued to see how Benrahma will integrate into Moyes 5-4-1 formation which he has tended to play this season, usually favouring just the one striker up top, which this season has tended to mostly be occupied by talisman Michail Antonio.
The question remains as to whether Moyes will look to combine the attributes of Antonio with Benrahma’s creativity by playing the two of them together, or whether even he will look to play the Algerian as a sole centre forward as opposed to his usual role as a winger, replacing Antonio’s current position up front.
With the forward having just arrived at the club, Moyes will look to have him in training as soon as possible to help try and prepare the new signing for his first start, which could be as soon as Saturday when the Hammers host Manchester City in the Premier League, if he is fit and ready to play.
Despite the Irons having hit form of late, the attacking position remains a point of concern for David Moyes and following the departure of striker Javier Hernandez to LA Galaxy in January of last season and the out-of-favour Sebastian Haller struggling to find the back of the net on a regular basis, Benrahma will look to fill the void of attacking threat up-front and keep the Hammers firing up top for the remainder of the campaign.
NathanJamesJohn.com 