When Premier League flops from Georges-Kevin N’Koudou and Steven Bergwijn are scoring goals for fun over in the Middle East, Said Benrahma’s starring role in the Saudi Arabian second division may not come as too much of a surprise back at West Ham United.
If former Tottenham Hotspur duo N’Koudou and Bergwijn can net 26 times between them against the finest backlines the nation has to offer, then of course former Brentford talisman Benrahma was going to exert his obvious superiority over the likes of Al Batin, Ohod and Al Bukaryriyah.
Then again, the sheer immediacy and the absolute, title-winning extent of Said Benrahma’s impact at Neom SC has still been beyond even the wildest dreams of a club who were playing fourth-tier football as recently as 2022.
When one-time West Ham United winger Benrahma swapped France for Saudi Arabia in January, Lyon inserted a £12 million purchase clause in his contract. One which would force Neom to turn an initial loan into a permanent transfer should a club formerly known as Al Suqoor gain promotion to the Saudi Pro League for the first time.
One suspects that the Neom bosses were not too concerned about the loss of £12 million from the club’s coffers, though, when Benrahma inspired a 3-0 victory over Al Arabi at the end of April.
A result which secured their promotion, and ensured the Algeria international would become the most expensive signing in their 60-year history at the very same time.
Said Benrahma celebrates with the Europa Conference League trophy after Fiorentina v West Ham
Photo by Giuseppe Maffia/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Former West Ham United winger Said Benrahma shines in Saudi Arabia
Benrahma’s record as a Neom SC player makes for pretty staggering reading.
In his last 14 games, a man who scored the opener during West Ham’s Europa Conference League final victory over Fiorentina provided no fewer than 15 goal contributions.
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Eight assists, alongside seven strikes of his own.
Neom would obliterate their second-tier rivals 4-1, 5-1, 6-0 and even 7-2 with Benhrama running the show. Among his highlights; a scorching first-time volley, a 30-yard drive into the bottom corner, and a free-kick which bamboozled the opposition goalkeeper on its way into the near post.
The cynics will point out, of course, that a footballer who made over 150 appearances for West Ham and won a European trophy just two years ago was always going to resemble a man against boys at such depths.
But backed by the Saudi Investment Fund [PIF], with plans for a space-age 46,000 capacity arena, and the centrepiece of Mohammed Bin Salman’s one trillion pound-plus megacity project – otherwise known rather dystopian-y as ‘The Line’ – Said Benrahma may well prove to be the man who lights the fuse under one of the most ambitious, most deep-pocketed football clubs on the entire planet.
Benrahma can join Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema among Saudi’s biggest stars
No wonder he wants to stay and help this so-called ‘a civilisational revolution’, to quote The Athletic, off the ground.
“Of course,” Benrahma said while on international duty for the Algeria national team. “It’s only been three or four months, so of course I will continue.”
“Neom won promotion to the Saudi Pro League last week and will, from next season, take their place alongside the so-called ‘Big Four’, write The Guardian.
If Al-Hilal have Aleksandr Mitrovic, if Al-Nassr have Cristiano Ronaldo, if Al-Ittihad have Karim Benzema and if Al-Ahli have Riyad Mahrez, then there may well be a seat awaiting Neom’s Said Benrahma at the top table of Middle Eastern football soon enough.