West Ham United’s sales of Said Benrahma and Pablo Fornals in January need to be approved by David Sullivan because they struggled against Backa Topola.
A large portion of West Ham United’s transfer business may involve the sale of multiple stars, such as Pablo Fornals and Said Benrahma, who were utterly against Backa Topla. The team may have a busy January ahead of them.
On Thursday night (30 November), Tomas Soucek scored another late winner to secure West Ham’s spot in the Europa League knockout stage in Serbia.
The Czech scored his fifth goal in his last five games for club and country after meeting Maxwel Cornet’s cross. Up until that point, David Moyes’ team had put on a listless and comatose performance with just one shot on goal.
With Soucek’s goal, West Ham United has now scored in their last 20 European games, winning 18 of them and losing just one.
Even so, Moyes will be dissatisfied with some of his stars’ performances despite the victory, which will make the January window even more crucial.
And if Benrahma and Fornals don’t pull together in the upcoming crucial weeks of Premier League action, they may find themselves traded and replaced.
Benrahma, a former forward for Brentford, played a key role in almost 50 games last season and has only 460 minutes of Premier League experience. This season, he has started ten games across all competitions.
Similarly, following the summer additions of James Ward-Prowse and Mohammed Kudus, who have already shown to be crucial players for Moyes, Fornals has been reduced to a bit-part role, appearing in just 167 minutes of league action [Tranfermarkt].
The fact that neither player received much game time under the Scot will have frustrated them both.
They were supposed to be the Hammers’ most creative outlets alongside Lucas Paqueta, but they looked lost for the majority of the match, so they missed out on their unique opportunity in Serbia.
The numbers demonstrated how miserable their evening was and how they fell well short of the fans’ expectations.
In yet another dismal performance, Benrahma lost possession of the ball 19 times, made just 30% of his ground duels wins, and completed 100% of his crosses, according to SofaScore.
Fornals, who undoubtedly exerted greater effort and energy in his performance, was unable to provide Moyes the necessary impactful narrative.
The Spanish player made just one crucial pass, won only two duels, did not score a single goal, lost all nine aerial duels, lost possession nine times, and completed only 50% of his crosses.
With his contract expiring in June of next year, it has been claimed that Fornals has turned down the opportunity to sign a new contract at the London Stadium (Sean Whetstone, September 14). As a result, it appears that his exodus from the stadium is now likely.
Sevilla is interested in signing him for the January transfer window, therefore Sullivan might believe West Ham United can make the most money if he sells in the winter. Benrahma, whose time as an Irons player is rapidly coming to an end, is comparable.
