Aston Villa reportedly want to give the Brentford star a chance in the Premier League but he needs he can be consistent in the Championship first.
Tony Mowbray was under no illusions about the challenge that faced his Blackburn Rovers backline on Wednesday night when they welcomed Brentford to Griffin Park. Especially with the mercurial Said Benrahma capable of making even the most reliable Championship full-back look like a helpless puppy when at his mercurial best.
“Benrahma is one of the best players in the division, he’s a special talent,” Mowbray admitted to the Lancashire Telegraph.
But, by the time the final whistle blew at Ewood Park, Rovers were celebrating a hard-fought 1-0 win with Bradley Dack scoring the only goal of the game. Benrahma, meanwhile, had a day to forget, shackled brilliantly by a diligent defensive performance by Blackburn right-back Ryan Nyambe.
In his first outing since Sky Sports claimed that Aston Villa are eyeing a potential £20 million January deal for the twinkle-toed playmaker, Benhrama produced arguably his most ineffective performance of the season so far.
But was this just an off day for arguably the division’s most technically gifted attacker, or something a little more sinister?
After all, there’s more than a few Brentford fans who have a sneaking suspicion that Benrahma was playing for himself in Lancashire, perhaps with a big-money move to the Premier League in his sights.
More performances like this, however, and Aston Villa will look elsewhere.
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