Chelsea ready to make a move for Brentford star Said Benrahma

Chelsea have opened talks to sign Brentford’s highly-rated Algerian winger Said Benrahma, according to new reports.

The 24-year-old has put himself on the radar with a string of eye-catching displays, his 10 goals and eight assists this season making the Bees the joint-highest scorers in the Championship alongside West Brom with 64.

That’s helped Brentford climb to fourth in the table and become a surprise contender for promotion to the Premier League.

However, Benrahma could guarantee himself a place in England’s top division regardless of that and a new destination has been revealed by a story in his homeland.

The player has previously been linked with Arsenal, Leicester, Spurs, West Ham and Crystal Palace and now Algeria’s La Gazette du Fennec say Chelsea have made an approach.

The report claims that Chelsea have held direct talks with the player, who has won three caps for Algeria, and are hoping to bring him to Stamford Bridge in the next transfer window.

The right winger was a £1.5million signing from Nice in 2018 but stories circulated in February that Brentford had valued the player at £30million.

That’s a huge jump but comparisons have been made to his celebrated compatriot Riyad Mahrez and his performances this season resulted in him being nominated for the EFL Player of the Year award at the 2020 London Football Awards.

The highlight so far was his hat-trick in the 5-1 win at Hull at the start of February while he’d scored seven goals in 12 games before the season was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Chelsea, who are set to part company with Willian and Pedro, are in the market for a winger and are believed to be looking for cheaper options given the huge asking price for Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho.

They have also been linked with Porto’s Jesus Corona, according to recent reports.