Before the season
Said Benrahma joined West Ham on 16 October 2020, initially on a loan deal from Brentford, which became permanent on 29 January 2021 after a promising start to the 2020/21 campaign.
The Algerian international made 36 appearances for the club in his debut campaign, coming off the bench for 19 of those.
He managed to secure a greater consistency of playing time from January onwards, linking up productively with Pablo Fornals, Jarrod Bowen and Jesse Lingard and he scored his first goal in Claret & Blue in a 1-1 draw at Brighton & Hove Albion as the season drew to a close.
How did 2021/22 go?
In the 2021/22 season, Saïd was able to establish himself as a more consistent starting option for David Moyes' side. In 48 appearances, he started 31 games, scoring eleven goals - three of which came in the UEFA Europa League. He also supplied six assists in all competitions.
Benrahma headed to the Africa Cup of Nations in mid-season, but found his goalscoring form again at the end of the campaign, notching twice in the thumping 4-0 win at Norwich City.
2021/22 highlights
Benrahma's standout performance of the season came away at Genk in the UEFA Europa League group stage, where he netted twice in a game where the Hammers narrowly missed out on victory due to a late equaliser.
He started the season spectacularly, with a goal and assist in each of his first two matches, in four-goal routs against Newcastle and Leicester.
The winger was also able to conclude his season successfully, with two goals and a Man of the Match performance against Norwich, aiding West Ham's European push.
Standout stat
In his four games against Aston Villa for the Hammers, Benhrama has won all four, generating five assists to foil the Villains. This adds to his two unbeaten games for Brentford against Villa, in which he made another assist.
Season by Numbers
Appearances: 48 (32 Premier League, 12 UEFA Europa League, 2 FA Cup, 2 EFL Cup)
Minutes Played: 2,881
Goals: 11 (8 Premier League, 3 UEFA Europa League)
Assists: 6 (6 Premier League)
Next up in 2022/23?
Benrahma will be looking for a similarly explosive start to the 2022/23 campaign as he found last year, with the twin aims of building on a productive first full campaign in Claret & Blue, and forcing his way back into Algeria manager Djamel Belmadi's starting XI.
With the Hammers, there is another European campaign to tackle, while internationally qualification for the next Africa Cup of Nations, which takes place in summer 2023, is the aim.
by Oliver Blair
