West Ham United are close to agreeing a deal with Brentford, worth up to £30m plus add-ons, to sign Said Benrahma, according to The Athletic.
The 25-year-old is set to complete a medical with the Hammers once he returns from international duty with Algeria.
This comes after the winger scored 17 goals and provided 10 assists for his teammates across 46 games in the Championship and play-offs last term.
He also offered a reminder of how effective he can be this term, as he scored an eye-catching brace against Fulham in the Carabao Cup.
While this move should be an exciting one for West Ham – as long as everything goes smoothly ahead of the deadline on October 16th – it will also leave David Moyes with a massive dilemma on his hands about what to do with Pablo Fornals, who has impressed in recent times.
What should Moyes do if Benrahma joins?
Drop Fornals
Change formation
In the last two games, the 24-year-old has recorded a goal and two assists. In addition, he’s made four key passes, three tackles, three interceptions and one dribble.
If the Scotsman continues with the 5-4-1 formation that has earned him 4-0 and 3-0 wins over Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City respectively, it is difficult to see how both Benrahma and Fornals could fit into the lineup.
That is because both Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek have shown that they can be key men for us in the middle of the park.
This means Fornals would likely be confined to the bench, coming off it to make an impact, which would be very harsh given how important he has been to the team’s latest successes.
However, Moyes will likely be wary of changing the system to fit him in, seeing as the current formation has helped the team to record consecutive clean sheets, helping to earn six points from the two games against tough opposition.
Therefore, while the move is an exciting one, it is likely going to leave Moyes with a bit of a selection headache.
