Who is Said Benrahma? Brentford's wing wizard on Chelsea's transfer radar

The 24-year-old is one of a number of Bees players who was plucked from obscurity, only to become one of the Championship's star names

(Uplay365) The 24-year-old is one of a number of Bees players who was plucked from obscurity, only to become one of the Championship’s star names

When Brentford walk out at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday evening for their Championship play-off final meeting with Fulham, they will be hoping they are just 90 minutes away from the culmination of one of English football’s most intriguing journeys of the 21st century.

Having not played in the top flight since their relegation in 1946, the Bees have led an up-and-down existence over the 74 years since, dropping as low as the fourth tier before their return to the Championship in 2014.

That promotion coincided with majority shareholder Matthew Benham securing a 100 per cent stake in the club, and it is he who has overseen a project that now has the club on the cusp of a place in the Premier League.

In 2016 it was decided that Brentford would abolish their academy and development squad, with a European-style ‘B’ team considered a better way for players to improve their games.

“Brentford can’t win by outspending the competition, so we have to outthink them,” co-director of football Rasmus Ankersen told Bleacher Report in 2017, with the Griffin Park outfit keen to embrace analytics when recruiting players.

That tactic, which resembles the ‘Moneyball’ philosophy made famous by baseball’s Oakland Athletics, has paid dividends, with Brentford regularly selling players for profit while routinely challenging for promotion themselves.

One of the method’s greatest successes has come in the form of Said Benrahma.

Seemingly cast aside by Nice and having spent the previous two seasons on loan in Ligue 2, Benrahma was plucked away from France in the summer of 2018, with Brentford paying just £2.7 million ($3.5m) for his services.(Visit to Playstar Slot)