we explain the imbroglio surrounding the transfer of Saïd Benrahma between West Ham and OL

Saïd Benrahma will be in Lyon for the second part of the season. The player’s loan, which initially failed on Thursday evening at the end of the transfer window due to a “computer problem” on the West Ham side, was finally validated on Friday.

The final hours of the transfer window regularly offer surprises and this was again the case on Thursday February 1st. While the loan of Saïd Benrahma from West Ham to Olympique Lyonnais seemed to be a formality and everything seemed signed between the two clubs, it was canceled… before finally being validated by Fifa on Friday February 2.

However, everything was settled on time between the two clubs… well almost. The English had forgotten to fill in information in the Transfer Matching System, Fifa transfer software. Without this information, it is impossible to validate this paying loan of six million euros, with a purchase option of 14.3 million euros.

“While Olympique Lyonnais had entered all the administrative data on the dedicated Fifa platform, West Ham had never launched the slightest technical procedure on its part, despite repeated reminders from OL and mutual telephone communication keep on going”, specified the French club in a press release published during the night from Thursday to Friday. The same incident happened to Real Betis for the transfer of Pablo Fornals, due to “a computer problem” on the English side, according to Ramon Alarcon, the general director of the Sevillian club. It was finally made official by West Ham, on February 2 at the end of the afternoon.

The DNCG had validated Benrahma’s transfer, the player had passed his medical examination and was present in Lyon with his family. The club then claimed to reserve “the right to initiate all appropriate procedures necessary to validate the transaction subsequently, and to hold West Ham responsible if necessary“. The expected documents arrived on Friday February 2 in the morning, while the transfer window was officially closed at 11:59 p.m. the day before.

“Last night all the documents were signedinsisted Laurent Prud’homme, general director of the club, Friday at a press conference. The employment contract was signed by Saïd, the transfer agreement was signed by West Ham and Olympique Lyonnais, the suspension of Saïd Benrahma’s employment contract at West Ham was also signed by the player… (. ..) I am allowing myself to give you these details because everything was done extremely well, followed in order. And all the documents were sent to West Ham on time.“

“It was a hassle”

We do not know if Fifa followed the Lyon leader’s comments live, but a few minutes after these statements, Laurent Prud’homme showed a message on his phone to John Textor, owner of OL, and announced: “Fifa would have accepted, for the moment, the validation [sur TMS]. For the moment,Our efforts are paying off. The FFF made the request to the English federation, which has seven days to accept. Our efforts are probably paying off.”

The agreement from Fifa, for an exemption of one day of delay, seemed to be the most important obstacle to overcome in the validation of this transfer. The English Federation gave its agreement a few hours later, officially making Saïd Benrahma a Lyon player for the rest of the season. “It was a struggle, a real roller coaster”explained the player in a video posted on the club’s social networks.