West Ham nearing major coup after reaching agreement for £30m forward

Benrahma.Brentford.TEAMtalk

West Ham have reportedly reached an agreement worth £30m to bring in-demand Brentford winger Said Benrahma to the club.

The forward lit up the Championship last season as The Bees came within a whisker of securing promotion to the Premier League.

His tandem with fellow frontmen Bryan Mbuemo and Ollie Watkins put fear into Championship defences. But the likelihood of Brentford being able to retain the trio always appeared slim.

Indeed, Watkins departed for Aston Villa in a £28m move, and made an immediate impact when scoring a hattrick versus champions Liverpool.

Benrahma – who notched 17 goals and nine assists in the campaign – also attracted the interest of several Premier League sides.

Chelsea and Leeds were two particularly interested parties, but according to respected journalist David Ornstein, West Ham appear to have won the race.

Speaking via Twitter, The Athletic reporter revealed the details of the impending move.

The fee is stated to be ‘£30m including add-ons’, though personal terms are yet to be finalised.

Per the tweet, a medical is speculated to be in the works for Wednesday following the conclusion of the international break.

Details of The Hammers’ pursuit of Benrahma were disclosed earlier this week. But the Algerian may not be the only new arrival before the domestic deadline slams shut on Friday.

The club reportedly had a £13m bid for Bournemouth stalwart Josh King rejected earlier today. Not disheartened, the latest report suggested the club could yet return with a bid closer to The Cherries’ £17.5m valuation.

West Ham had thought to be in the market for defensive additions. But with Grady Diangana’s controversial exit and Felipe Anderson’s loan departure, depth in the forward line had become relatively thin.

 

West Ham missed late on Ligue 1 defender

Simakan TEAMtalk

Meanwhile, West Ham saw a deadline day bid for Strasbourg defender Mohamed Simakan rejected, according to reports in France.

The Hammers were in the market for a new centre-back to provide competition for Issa Diop, Angelo Ogbonna and Fabian Balbuena all summer. However, they failed to get any deal over the line before the deadline.

There is still a chance that West Ham will be able to add a new defender next week, before the deadline for Premier League clubs and EFL clubs to do business with each other. They have been linked with Watford’s Craig Dawson, for example.

Now, it has emerged that they could have got their hands on a Ligue 1 prospect. According to Le10 Sport (via Sport Witness), West Ham made a bid on deadline day.

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