Should West Ham sell Grady Diangana to West Bromwich Albion, which isn’t nailed on yet seems likely, then they will have some money to reinvest and in the eyes of many, no excuses not to do so.
Football.London understands that any deal for Diangana could fetch up to £18million as the club has struggled to shift on its more established, high-earning players like Felipe Anderson, Manuel Lanzini and Jack Wilshere.
But with Diangana potentially leaving, that would mean a replacement is needed. Pablo Fornals and Manuel Lanzini are not wingers so that leaves Anderson, Jarrod Bowen and Andriy Yarmolenko as the wing options for David Moyes.
Bowen has the right flank nailed down for the start of next season thanks to his impressive start to life in the capital following his £16million switch from Hull City in January. Diangana was very much in the frame for a starting berth on the left flank come the Premier League opener against Newcastle on September 12.
Whether the wideman will be at the club in ten days time we will wait and see. So who is likely to start on that side against the Toon?
Given the amount of time before the game it is likely to be someone who is already at the club, you’d assume Pablo Fornals considering he had a strong end to the season playing on the left of the front three.
But Fornals is a number ten by trade and if Moyes wants to find himself someone who is more comfortable out there then he doesn’t have to look very far - Said Benrahma.
The Brentford winger had an excellent season in 2019/20 as the Bees narrowly missed out on promotion to the top flight, losing the play-off final to Fulham at Wembley just a few weeks ago.
The Algerian scored 17 goals and provided nine assists as the Bees came incredibly close to promotion to the Premier League for the first time in their history.
Moyes is an admirer of Benrahma and has been on his list of targets this summer, though not necessarily at the top of it as the Scotsman wants to strengthen his backline by selling some attackers, a position in which he is stacked.
That said, with the Algerian performing incredibly well last season and the Bees also chasing a fee of £28million for striker Ollie Watkins, Benrahma would not come cheap.
West Ham have sold Albian Ajeti, Jordan Hugill and Roberto so far this summer but that total is less than £10million. Benrahma has previously been valued at around £25million by Brentford so the Hammers are already struggling, even if they do sell Diangana.
While Benrahma would be a decent replacement for Diangana, whether or not a move materialises remains to be seen. Moyes has already missed out on Eberechi Eze who plumped for Crystal Palace having left QPR. Moyes may well have to settle with what he has got heading into the first match of the season in ten days time.
Or, should West Ham spend the money on Benrahma's team mate Rico Henry? Some might say that a better proposition and the club certainly needs a new left back option heading into the new season. Henry has impressed in the Brentford defence and Moyes will have got a good glmipse of the player during last weeks' friendly at London Stadium.
