Three possible Premier League destinations for Said Benrahma | OneFootball

Said Benrahma was one of Brentford’s leading performers during the course of the previous campaign, but the club failed to secure Premier League promotion at the final hurdle.

Ollie Watkins, who bagged 26 goals last term, made the switch to the top-flight with Aston Villa earlier last month, but there have not been more high-profile departures from the west London side.

The Premier League transfer window for international deals concluded on Monday night, but the top-flight teams can still do business with EFL clubs until October 16.

Hence, the Bees still face the prospect of losing some of their leading players and Benrahma appears the most likely to head through the exit door in the next 10 days.

Let’s have a look at three possible Premier League destinations for the Algerian, who has registered 19 goals and 10 assists for the Bees since the beginning of last season.

West Ham United:

The Hammers have experienced a difficult summer and they have made only one new addition to the squad in right-back Vladimir Coufal from Slavia Prague. They were desperate to pursue a top-class centre-back, but failed in their attempts to land Burnley’s James Tarkowski and Wesley Fofana, who made the move from Saint-Etienne to Leicester City.

As such, there has been plenty of criticism from the club’s faithful and the hierarchy may look into the Championship to bring in a couple of new players. Obviously, a new central defender will be the main focus, but they could also move for a wide player.

The club made the surprise decision to sell Grady Diangana to West Bromwich Albion earlier this summer and they have recently confirmed the departure of Felipe Anderson to Porto on a season-long loan. On top of this, they have freed up £100,000-a-week wages with the release of Jack Wilshere.

Hence, we can anticipate the purchase of at least one attacking player and a move for Benrahma could be on the cards, The Hammers were prepared to pay more than £30m for both Tarkowski and Fofana earlier this summer and they should be able to afford the £20m price tag for Benrahma.

Fulham:

The Cottagers spent more than £100m on new signings when they were previously promoted to the Premier League in 2018/19. However, that did not work out as planned and they were relegated from the top-flight without much of a fight.

This time around, they have been more conservative with just £30m spent on new arrivals. The majority of that sum went into re-signing Anthony Knockaert and Harrison Reed after their season-long loans from Brighton & Hove Albion and Southampton respectively.

The west London outfit were desperately looking to reinforce the central defence before deadline day and they managed to do so with the signings of Tosin Adarabioyo and Joachim Andersen (loan) from Manchester City and Lyon respectively.

Still, there remains a potential weakness in their attack as they are heavily reliant on Aleksandar Mitrovic to find the back of the net. The Serbian scored 26 goals in their promotion-winning campaign last season and he has already netted two of their three goals this term. Benrahma’s arrival would definitely enhance his goalscoring exploits.

Aston Villa:

The west Midlands outfit have made a superb start to their Premier League campaign with three wins from three. They recently grabbed the headlines with a stunning 7-2 win over reigning champions Liverpool where Watkins was the star of the show with a maiden Premier League hat-trick.

Aside from Watkins, Ross Barkley, on loan from Chelsea, also stood out in the sublime display. The Villans have been one of the big spenders with more than £80m paid for new signings and have significantly bolstered the attack with Lyon’s Bertrand Traore also added to their squad.

Still, it won’t come as a surprise, if they consider strengthening the attack further with Benrahma. Benrahma has previously played under Dean Smith at Brentford similar to Watkins and the forwards had a terrific understanding on the pitch last term.

The club were in advanced negotiations for Milot Rashica, but a deal failed to materialise for the Werder Bremen attacker. Benrahma could be the perfect alternative to the Kosovo international, should Smith want another wide player.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com