Name: Said Benrahma

Club: Brentford

Date of Birth: 10 August 1995

Position: Winger (left, right)

SAID BENRAHMA - HIS CAREER SO FAR

Said Benrahma is a 25-year-old Algerian winger who's currently plying his trade over at Brentford in the Championship. The young forward has had quite a good campaign and this has warranted him interest from some of the big English clubs. For Benrahma, however, the footballing life began back home in Algeria when he was just a kid. But due to his talent, he moved to France where he was quickly picked up by Nice in 2013 following two stints at other smaller clubs.

Of course, seeing how he was still far too young back then, he mostly featured for their youth squads, eventually tallying 37 games and scoring 11 goals in the process as well. Unfortunately, with some niggling injuries and a change in the coaching staff, Benrahma would find game time for the seniors heavily limited, which eventually led to his departure on loan to Angers, Gazelec Ajaccio and Chateauroux between in stints that lasted between 2016 and 2018.

As a whole, he would only end up playing 18 games for Nice's first-team, scoring three goals and assisting further three along the way. Despite struggling, he still did quite well in France. His loan gigs were also decent, albeit mostly with limited appearances once again. He scored once in 13 games for Angers, three times with three assists across 15 matches for Ajaccio and tallied ten goals and five assists across 33 at Chateauroux for his best stint of all three loans.

Benrahma's move to England and to Brentford finally arrived in the summer of 2018, signing a four-year contract and needless to say, never looking back ever since. Now that he is in his prime years, the 25-year-old is slowly but surely making a big name for himself down in the Championship. So far, he has scored 28 goals and assisted 27 across 90 games played for the Bees.

It took him only until his third game to net the first strike and soon became a regular competitor for the starting lineup. Unfortunately, injuries also followed him along the way so his first season was something of a hit-and-miss. Still, 2019/20 was much better and his goal tally progressively got better and better.

The stellar campaign he had had even got him nominated for the EFL Player of the Year award at the 2020 London Football Awards, which is a testament to his talent and hard work.

TRANSFER LATEST

There have been quite a few transfer news and transfer rumours surrounding Benrahma as of late. The team that looks the most interested in him, however, are Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds United. Some other Newcastle United transfer news suggested the Magpies are also interested but it remains to be seen who ends up winning the race.

One thing seems to be quite clear, however, holding onto Benrahma could be a very difficult task if you're Brentford as the young forward is primed to move away from the Championship altogether.

Only time will tell.

PLAYER PROFILE

Even though Benrahma is a natural winger by trade, he has the freedom and the licence to move centrally and position himself between the lines during Brentford's attacks. The 25-year-old is very dynamic in his approach and likes to carry the ball forward in his feet. The low centre of gravity is also a big help here as it enables him to wrong-foot his markers and use his agility to glide past them.

Needless to say, a mean dribble can also help Brentford escape the opposition's press as well as create in the danger areas. On top of that, Benrahma seems to have a keen eye for a good pass and a good shot as well, making him a great package to have in the frontline.