West Ham’s Said Benrahma expected return date after Algeria crash out of AFCON

David Moyes will be delighted with news that Said Benrahma’s Algeria crashed out of the AFCON at the first hurdle and the winger will be returning to London this week.

The reigning African champions never really got going in Cameroon, and came into the final game against Ivory Coast needing a win to stand a chance of progressing to the next stage.

But by half way through the game, the Desert Foxes were already two goals down, AC Milan’s Franke Kessie finished off a great move and Ibrahim Sangare planted home the second to put the Ivorians in charge.

Arsenal’s Nicolas Pepe added a third, before Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez missed a penalty for Algeria.

Algeria finally reduced the deficit thanks to a strike from Sofiane Bendebka with what was a face saving goal, and the game ending 3-1.

This is only the third time that AFCON holders have failed to progress through to the knockout stages.

When is Said Benrahma back for West Ham

As things stand West Ham will likely be arranging a flight to get him back to London over the weekend, but there are still huge doubts as to if he will be able to travel with the team to Manchester United due to Covid restrictions and travel arrangements.

The logical thing to do is to get him back to the Rush Green training base and allow him time to recover, before giving him minutes against Kidderminster Harriers in the FA Cup in February.

Benrahma’s form at the AFCON

Despite going into the tournament with five goals and four assists for the Hammers, Benrahma never really took off in Cameroon.

He managed only one start, the disappointing 3-1 loss to the Ivory Coast, and was a late substitute in the other two.

The attacker was supposed to shine this tournament, after missing Algeria’s win last time, however the holders have gone out in the first round - finishing bottom of their group.