Forum | General Discussion

Having completed the first part of his medical ahead of joining West Ham United, and already having agreed personal terms, Said Benrahma's transfer seemed just a matter of dotting the i's and crossing the t's, however, an issue has arisen from the second part of his medical. You might ask your self 'why two medicals in the first place?', the answer is that is common practise to hold a medical over 24 hours in order to gain full medical disclosure, it is also normal for players returning from International duty to be rigorously tested for issues with their blood content, especially during the Covid pandemic.

So what is the issue? From our old sources at the Associated Press organisation (essentially they are a professional version of New Now) we have heard a couple of reasons for the concern. At this point we are treading dangerous territory so have to mention that the information received is being relayed without prejudice and in no way represents the opinion of the editor or the site westhamfans.org.

Before we reveal the quote it is worth bearing in mind that any potential 'health' issue found can have an effect on the player's value, so it is with some reservation we can from our third party state that there' may' have been traces of some form of stimulant or something along those lines found in Benrahma's blood samples.

Now we have to say straight away there can be a myriad of reasons for a blood test being returned with anomalies, it could be a health supplement that makes a reading strange, it could be a non-prescription medicine that is flagged up, worst case scenario it might be a recreational drug reading, and more likely than anything else, a mistaken reading, it happens regularly.

If by any freak chance the recreational aspect rears it's ugly head, before anyone jumps on the bandwagon, the player was in Amsterdam for the Holland v Algeria International fixture, and if by any reason he did partake in the local coffee house wares he would have been doing so completely within the confines of Dutch law.

Hopefully everything will be sorted out by 5PM, and after all, it wouldn't be West Ham if there wasn't some form of 'Ben' Drama! -Ed

In the last couple of seasons we have featured a 'view from the other side' exchange with Andy and his pals at www.spursforlife.com, as one of their contributors Ryan Curtis most eloquently writes below, the fiercly contested rivalry both on and off the pitch between Tottenham and West Ham will be sadly missing without the crowds in attendance.

'We’ve just come off the back of a 6-1 win at Old Trafford and you have just won 3-0 at Leicester and pumped Wolves 4-0… since when have both of us been playing well coming into the derby?! I wrote a bit on another West Ham site in preview to our game at the end of last season and my overarching feeling was how frustrating it was we couldn’t be at that game with the atmosphere and feeling that comes when we play each other, that feeling still remains.

Even watching on tele the crowd noise is different for this game and it gets into the players. Noble crunching someone for you, Dier flying back in for us, we all love to see the beautiful game but the desire to win the ball in a derby is something to behold. Coming into this game as a Spurs fan I’m excited. Kane and Son are flying, Ndombele is starting to find some form and we have a strong squad but the main reason is Gareth Bale.

I’m sorry (not sorry) to say he’s one of my favourite players we’ve ever had for the heights he reached in the couple of seasons before he left, and one of the biggest memories is the last minute worldy at Upton Park, you all know the one! (ouch) I’m not confident he’ll be back at those levels, or ever reach them but just having him back in our shirt playing a London derby is huge.

The game at the end of last season West Ham were poor and really didn’t offer much going forward. Then you watch them this season and you think they might be onto something. From the game last season Bowen looked a bit raw, now you look and he looks like a real player. You definitely look like you’ve found a position for Antonio who has always had a class attitude and is learning the position and adding goals, Fornals looks technically tidy and you look like you’re somewhat better drilled at the back.

I’m not one of those Spurs fans who want to see West Ham at the bottom of the league, I want to see them playing well so the games between us are properly competitive as the derby should be and hopefully this season we have that. Not too sure how it will play out with the international break and as both Spurs and West Ham fans know our form has always been ‘streaky’ shall we say.

If there were fans there for Bale’s return I’d say that would carry us through, but without them, and with the unpredictability of lockdown football any result is possible. My main hope though is that come the return fixture we can be in the Olympic Stadium with all the banter, abuse and unrivalled atmosphere this historic fixture is famous for with all of us.'

Well there you have it, thanks to Ryan for what we thought was a rather unbiased article. - Ed

Just when Hammers fans were anticipating a massive transfer coup, with not one but two sought after players arriving within 24 Hours of each other, the second of the deals has hit the skids. It is well known that David Moyes has been a long term admirer of striker Joshua King, unfortunately King's chances of arriving at The London Stadium are between zero to none as a result of a quite frankly ludicrous set of demands by both the player and his agent, added to those issues was Bournemouth's reluctance to accept anything less than £18 Million for their star player who is entering the final year of his contract and as such can leave on a free next summer.

Of course the essential component of the details will probably not surface until later, with all parties blaming each other, and while King would have added to Hammers firepower he might have upset the apple cart. It's a pity in a way, because the Irons could have had a formidable front line, but then again how do you fit so many attacking players into one team?

Perhaps Moyes is trying to do a 'Pep' or a 'Pellegrini', hopefully with more success than the latter, either way, bearing in mind the unique circumstances that club's fund themselves in, it has not been to bad a window, has it? - Ed

As we publish, the exact outcome of the 'Said Benrahma' transfer saga is still proving difficult to predict, however the major stumbling block that has prevented the deal from getting over the line is on the point of being resolved to the satisfaction of ALL parties. Unfortunately the 'ray of light' that shines bright for fans as they anticipate the arrival of the 'Algerian Messi', will be tempered by the dark cloud about to descend on the little jewel', Manuel Lanzini.

Should all the I's an T's be ticked off successfully and a medical that has been arranged for this afternoon passed, Benrahma will arrive with a high price tag on his head, with the eventual deal costing anything between £17-30 Million depending on various quite ludicrous add ons. Generally following such a large outlay the player is instantly introduced in to the starting line up, but herein lies a dual issue, firstly through design and by fate, David Moyes has hit upon a really effective line up which raises the adage, 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it!'.

The second and more salient issue is, what is going to happen to 'Manu' Lanzini now? The incredibly affable Lanzini, by his own admission is a shadow of the player he once was, his massive cruciate and knee injury sustained while training with his beloved Argentine national side put him out of action for nearly a year, the fact that he was rushed back from injury didn't help the 27 year old as he 'broke down' on several occasions.

There is already no starting place allocated to Lanzini in Moyes' plans, and with the arrival of yet more competition it is difficult to see where and when he can get a look in, 'Manu' is far too great a talent to have languishing in the reserves or just warming the bench. Having been handed a new five year deal that doesn't expire until the end of June 2023, with the club having a further two year option for renewal, Lanzini has an 'airtight' contract. When a club has a player of value, it is common practise to hand them a long contract to ensure other clubs cannot take advantage of the player's contract reaching it's final year, that is all well and good if the player doesn't pick up a long term injury, unfortunately both Lanzini and Winston Reid were both given long, and generous contracts and now neither player looks like featuring for the first team any time soon.

Having been valued as much as £40-50 Million before his injury, Manu Lanzini's current value is only £12 Million according to Transfer Market

What happens next for the diminutive midfielder is hard to predict, with Felipe Anderson shipped off to fC Porto there is possibly a berth in the team for him, but where would Benrahma then play? Although injuries and suspensions obviously effect the needs for support players, Manuel Lanzini's preferred position is currently occupied by the very in form Pablo Fornals, a player that David Moyes 'fancies' due to his relentless box to box endurance, the player is like a 'Duracell Bunny' sometimes!

There are plenty of clubs to have shown an interest in acquiring the 'little jewel's' services, however it seems the club are keen to rehabilitate Lanzini in order to possibly prepare him for sale, it is believed that has already been the intention, but as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, prices for 'luxury' players have dropped disproportionately and it was eventually decided that his services would be better off retained in the short term until the market picks up again, after all he is on a long contract.

The issue may well turn out to be if Manuel Lanzini is 'happy' to not be playing, Hammers cannot afford to have a player on big wages, a long contract and not play him, perhaps Chelsea or one of the other 'Tycoon' run clubs can, but for the cash strapped Irons it is an issue that has to be dealt with, if not during the very soon to be January window, then definitely by the next. - Ed