West Ham star Said Benrahma could be in contention until the end of the January transfer window, sources have told Football Insider.
Football Insider revealed on Saturday (January 6) that the Irons have deterred interested clubs by slapping a £20m price tag on the 28-year-old.
Benrahma is wanted by Lyon, Wolves and Fulham, but all three sides are believed to prefer a loan deal with an option or obligation to buy in the summer.
Significantly, the Algerian is not at the African Cup of Nations, having parted company with international manager Djamel Belmadi.
He will therefore cover for Ghana’s Mohamed Kudus and Lucas Paquet, who is recovering from recent injury problems.
With interested parties such as Lyon, Wolves and Fulham having rejected West Ham’s initial demands, it appears that Benrahma will only leave at the end of the transfer window, which ends on 1 February.
A well-informed source told Football Insider that the former Brentford star is keen to leave the London Stadium in search of more regular first-team football.
He has made just one assist in 21 appearances in all competitions this season and missed a penalty in the 2-1 away win over Arsenal last month.
In 12 of those appearances, he was in David Moyes’ starting line-up.
This contrasts with his role in the 2022-23 campaign, when he scored 12 goals and five assists in 51 appearances and helped the Irons win the Conference Europa League.
This season, Kudus has displaced Benrahm as West Ham occupy sixth place in the Premier League standings.