David Moyes thinks Josh King would be better suited to his West Ham United side but the board are prioritising £25 million-rated Said Benrahma instead, according to the Mirror (15 October, page 65).
Benrahma may be more expensive than his Championship counterpart, £7 million more expensive in fact, but there is only one winner if we are talking about ‘value for money’.
The Brentford talisman has only just turned 25 after all and has his best years ahead of him.
The same may not be true of King but, with his contract due to expire next summer, you can see why the West Ham board might not jump at the chance to pay £18 million for a man who will be have 29 candles on his birthday cake on January 15.
The Mirror claims that Benrahma will sign a five-year contract at the London Stadium, with his medical expected to get underway later on Thursday.
That is not to suggest Moyes is against the idea of signing perhaps the most naturally gifted footballer in the Championship, but his preference for King makes sense.
The Norway international is versatile enough to play in multiple forward positions, after all, while Benrahma has almost exclusively dazzled on the left-hand side since moving to England.
King, meanwhile, boasts the kind of proven Premier League experience that a wildcard like Benrahma simply cannot match.
The long-serving Bournemouth star – a man who has reached double figures in two separate top-flight seasons – is the very definition of the term ‘safe bet’.
But, while Davids Gold and Sullivan are hardly popular figures in the East End, there is logic behind a reluctance to invest £18m in a man you can sign next summer for nothing.
West Ham’s record transfers
- Sebastien Haller
£45 million
- Felipe Anderson
£41.5 million
- Marko Arnautovic
£25 million
- Pablo Fornals
£24 million
- Issa Diop
£22 million
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