West Ham Preview: Predicting Saïd Benrahma’s season

Saïd Benrahma‘s 2020/21 Premier League season was one that gave a lot of West Ham fans hope. After signing initially on loan from Brentford on the 2020 summer transfer window deadline day, Benrahma started off on the bench at West Ham. However, this isn’t unusual for a David Moyes signing, as the manager typically likes to ease new signings into his teams.

In his first three appearances for the Hammers, all as a sub, he tallied two assists, both of them ending up as the cause of game-winning goals. David Moyes obviously took note of those impressive substitute contributions as Benrahma went on to start 9 of the next 12 Premier League games.

Benrahma’s loan move was then made permanent in the January 2021 transfer window to free up space for the loan signing of Jesse Lingard. The next two months were then a bit of a struggle for Saïd to find consistent game time as Lingard was on an undroppable run of form. But Benrahma could end the season on a good note adding one goal and two assists in the Hammer’s last five matches.

So, where does this leave Saïd heading into West Ham’s 2021/22 season?

With West Ham qualifying for Europa League football this year, they’re going to have a lot more games and squad rotation than last season. The West Ham squad’s attacking options are also notably thin at the moment, with Jesse Lingard returning to Manchester United. The Hammers are currently linked with West Bromwich Albion attacking midfielder Matheus Pereira, but we’ll see what happens with that later. All we know as of now is Benrahma, Pablo Fornals, Jarrod Bowen, and Manuel Lanzini will all be playing an essential part in this upcoming season.

West Ham’s most recent game was a preseason friendly against Celtic, which featured Benrahma starting out left. He looked very lively, tallying a goal that sat down both the defender and keeper and assisted in the 6-2 victory. One thing that really stood out to me was his chemistry with Fornals and Bowen in the attacking third looked very improved upon last season. Hopefully, we see more of those three linking up into this season.

Now considering all this and the fact he has a whole Premier League season already under his belt, with a guaranteed 38 Premier League games, at least 6 Europa League group stage games, and the FA cup, it looks like Saïd could be in for a big year.

With all these matches and what seems to be a spot as a prominent starter heading into the season, I believe Saïd could hit a 10+ goal, 10+ assist year. Finishing last season with seven assists in only 16 starts, it’s highly plausible for him to get in the double digits now that he’s in line for a lot more game time. The double-digit goal mark may be wishful thinking, but I believe now that he has that weight lifted off his back of scoring his first goal for the club, he will hit the ground running. Someone will have to replace the goals Lingard scored, and I believe that will be Saïd.

One last thing I want to put out there is in games where Saïd Benrahma started, West Ham’s record was 12-3-2.  Clearly adds another element to our team, and I can’t wait to watch him play this year! Come on you Irons!