Fulham and Newcastle are both reportedly looking to beat West Ham to the signing of Brentford star Said Benrahma.
Reports have suggested that West Ham have made progress in negotiations with Brentford and are close to a deal to sign Benrahma ahead of next week’s transfer deadline.
But The Star say Fulham and Newcastle are also in the running to sign the Algerian winger, who has been tipped to move on since Brentford missed out on promotion at the end of last season.
There has been speculation over Benrahma’s future for some time and that has been fuelled by him recently being left out of the Brentford starting line-up.
However, Bees head coach Thomas Frank has insisted that was purely down to fitness issues and that he hopes Benrahma will stay at the west London club despite Premier League interest.
Speaking after his team’s 4-2 home defeat against Preston North End, Frank told West London Sport: “He had some minor injuries and setbacks in pre-season and he wasn’t back to his full fitness level.
“That’s the reason I took him off against Fulham. In fact, I played him 10 minutes too much in that game, so he couldn’t start today.”