Nayef Aguerd - signed (30m)

[Coffee]

"OS West Ham United complete Nayef Aguerd transfer West Ham United are delighted to announce the signing of Morocco international defender Nayef Aguerd. The 26-year-old joins the Hammers from French Ligue 1 club Rennes on a five-year contract and adds further quality and depth to David Moyes‚Äô squad. He will wear the No27 shirt. Aguerd has enjoyed two impressive seasons with Rennes, enhancing the reputation he established at FUS Rabat, Dijon and with the Moroccan national team. Now, the left-sided player will continue his career in the English Premier League, where his combination of talents will see him provide strong competition for Craig Dawson, Issa Diop, Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma. ‚ÄúI was really excited when I heard about West Ham United's interest,‚Äù said Aguerd, an impressive individual who speaks fluent French, English, Arabic and Spanish. ‚ÄúWhen I heard about it, I knew I needed to go to the Premier League, because it‚Äôs a dream for every player. ‚ÄúWest Ham is a historic Club. I saw a few of their games this year, and I saw the fans and the atmosphere were fantastic, with the bubbles! ‚ÄúI talked with the manager and he showed me that he was very interested, so it was easy to choose to come to West Ham.‚Äù Aguerd was born in the city of K?©nitra in the north of Morocco into a footballing family. His father played in the Moroccan top-flight, while his uncle Abdelmajid Bouyboud was capped 34 times and appeared at the 1994 FIFA World Cup finals ‚Äì an achievement his nephew could emulate in Qatar later this year. As a boy, Aguerd represented local club KAC of K?©nitra before being scouted and recruited to the national Mohammed VI Football Academy in the capital city of Rabat, where he spent four years playing alongside the likes of Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri. In 2014, aged 18, he joined leading club Rabat FUS, making 12 appearances in his debut season and attracting the attention of a host of leading Spanish clubs. After bulking up and working hard on his game, Aguerd then inspired FUS to their first-ever Moroccan Championship in May 2016, scoring a vital goal against Ittihad Tanger that all but clinched the title. After scoring in the 2017 CAF Champions League and impressing regularly for FUS over the next two seasons, Aguerd joined French Ligue 1 club Dijon in 2018. Two encouraging seasons for Les Rouges led to a transfer to Rennes, where he started the club‚Äôs first-ever UEFA Champions League match at home to Russian side Krasnodar and featured in four of six group-stage fixtures in the autumn of 2020. Aguerd has thrived at Roazhon Park, making 66 Ligue 1 appearances and helping Rennes qualify for Europe in each of the last two seasons. He scored twice in seven UEFA Europa Conference League appearances and started 31 Ligue 1 games as Rennes finished fourth last term. At international level, the defender was capped at U20 and U23 level before making his senior debut against Albania in August 2016. Two years later, he helped Morocco win the African Nations Championship on home turf. He is now a regular in the Atlas Lions‚Äô starting XI with 25 senior caps and was an ever-present in Morocco‚Äôs successful 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign and run to the 2021 CAF Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals. Everyone at West Ham United would like to welcome Nayef to London Stadium and wish him all the best for his career in Claret and Blue."

[Rossal]

"The hollywood passes and tackles at times are superb, even some of the blocks and clearances last night his positioning was spot on when Johnson was getting rinsed. He had a mare last night, all players do. He has been largely impressive since he joined and will be much better at LCB. Lets hope he is there on sat and performs well"

[Eerie Descent]

"New Jersey 12:53 Thu Mar 2 Compared to some of the absolute clown defending we're seeing from others, he'd be closer to those two to be fair. Never saw him have a game like this lad had last night. The Hollywood passes & tackles are blinding people to the defensive frailties. As I said though, he does have the raw materials, so I'm hoping and expecting him to come good. Needs to do a hell of a lot better though."

[Far Cough]

"""If the ball is in the air the tall players have an advantage."" Fuck me, the things you learn on here."

[BRANDED]

"I've said this before but the premier league ( and most others ) is becoming about fast, tall, athletic players. If the ball is in the air the tall players have an advantage. If its on the ground everyone needs to be able to pass. They all need to run around for 90 minutes if asked to. Powerful, tall defenders create a shield around the goalie and we've actually been pretty good at that so I think we can put this down to a bad day at the office but losing Zouma and Daws from the mix change us in that department. Its a fact."

[BRANDED]

"I've said this before but the premier league ( and most others ) is becoming about fast, tall, athletic players. If the ball is in the air the tall players have an advantage. If its on the ground everyone needs to be able to pass. They all need to run around for 90 minutes if asked to. Powerful, tall defenders create a shield around the goalie and we've actually been pretty good at that so I think we can put this down to a bad day at the office but losing Zouma and Daws from the mix change us in that department. Its a fact."

[lincslink]

Aguerd looked very uncomfortable playing on the right of the two centre backs.

[Manuel]

"Dog - So he was doing his job before he gifted the game to them? I'm happy to file this under a disaster for him and hope it's a one off, but to be responsible for 3 goals in one game is almost unheard of. And let's not pretend he hasn't looked shaky in other previous games, because he has. For me he is a defender who has errors in him and his positioning is sometimes questionable too IMO. Let's see how he goes on Saturday."

[New Jersey]

Dawson was a really good buy but some of you are making out he was a cross between Bobby Moore and Franz Beckenbauer!

[Far Cough]

Very good player who made a mistake I'm more angry about the clown up front.

[Come On You Irons]

"""Until he sliced the ball off for a corner and compounded it by the og seconds later he was doing absolutely fine"" Haha, what a laughable comment. So until he made two absolute fuck ups that led to their equaliser he was doing just fine, was he. That's ok then! The excuses some people make for some of our players is ridiculous."

[Coffee]

Well said.

[Mad Dog]

"Fuck me, sales of tenna lady must have gone through the roof. Some very moist undercrackers on here. Until he sliced the ball off for a corner and compounded it by the og seconds later he was doing absolutely fine. It clearly shook him and then we had an onslaught from one of the best teams in the land. The 2nd was more Johnston not getting to him quick enough, but frankly it was just a good finish. 3rd was when we were all. Ut done for and chasing the game. Our loss has a LOT more to do with antonio being a fucking donkey than anything else. He's very clearly a good player. And if you can't see that I don't know what to do with you. Coyi is clearly either a troll or a fucking moron and has a vendetta against the players from Muslim countries it seems by digging him and benny out."

[Eerie Descent]

"Ted, first off having to make those Hollywood tackles says something about his positioning, and secondly, in that same game he got taken for an absolute mug by the very average Joe Willock, who scored, it was ruled out though because just before that the ball had narrowly gone out of play. This fella has got a lot to do if he wants to thrive in the Prem. Thankfully, he does have the natural tools, but defensive nous looks a bit suspect to me. Fingers crossed."

[Stowie.40]

Your right a defenders first priority is to defend but the game has changed and being able to pass it forward helps. I totally agree not replacing Dawson was idiotic simple cos we are playing a way past it Ogbonna. I don’t fancy Ogbonna is a back 4 against any sort of pace.

[ted fenton]

Ron Eff 11:10 Thu Mar 2 Totally agree Ron yes he had a mare last night but his tackle away to Newcastle showed he's a class defender.

[Come On You Irons]

"""I don’t like him playing on the right. Thing is he is obviously a good passer and we’re hampering him by playing him there"" He is a defender, not a midfielder. A defender's main job is to defend. Some of our more gullible supporters were hoodwinked and bamboozled by seeing this fella spray a few 40 yard balls to the flanks and now can't admit he is a ropey defender. I stand by my view that Dawson is a better defender than him. Dawson plays last night instead of Aguerd and we don't lose that game 3-1. FACT. It was idiotic and pathetic by the club to ship out Diop (who is having a great season at Fulham, top 7 in the league and in the FA Cup QFs) and replace him with an even worse defender in Kehrer. And then allow Dawson to go without a replacement because this donkey Aguerd is back, forgetting that Zouma is out injured. Total shambles."

[Eerie Descent]

"I think the most stark thing is everyone is starting to realise how important Craig Dawson was to us. Very rarely injured, phenomenal in the air in both boxes, our biggest goal threat at times, a natural leader, hard as nails, and his passing improved over time. He never had a game as bad as that last night. Right side or not, this lad needs to do much better, and some flashy passing is not enough for a PL centre back."

[Ron Eff]

"He had a bad day, and that’s all there is to it. He’s done far more good than bad, people need to get a grip. Moyes savaging him in the press really doesn’t help anyone. Can’t remember him doing it to Kehrer who is literally at least a mistake a game. His man management is appalling."

[Stowie.40]

I don’t like him playing on the right. Thing is he is obviously a good passer and we’re hampering him by playing him there. When sides press us his passing can be a tool that beats that but playing him on the right stops that. It’s why the Dawson sale or lack of Replacement for him was laughable. Moyes obviously doesn’t trust Kehrer in a 2 & Zouma is a constant crock.

[Percy Dalton]

Felt a bit sorry for Aguerd playing at right centre back is not his forte. As Pedro said we need a fit Zouma back a bit sharpish then he can revert back to centre left which is his natural position. Not replacing Dawson was a mistake again from Moyes one of many in his stewardship

[Westham67]

He got the jitters after the own goal but our midfield and back formation is changing from game to game different players in different positions

[Rossal]

No coincidence he has looked bit ropey since going to RCB Not replacing Dawson despite knowing he was off for best part of 6 months sums up how laughably inept and a shambles this season has been

[BRANDED]

Him and Kherer are absolute calamity James. Nice signings though

[Manuel]

"LeroysBoots 10:18 Thu Mar 2 ''Fuck me, some of you need to take a long hard look at yourselves'' Haha, Boots - you are the biggest queen on this sight by a mile and always have been. Have a have long hard look at yourself for criticizing a footballer on a football forum? Do you not think you might be taking this a bit too seriously? I've never seen a CB responsible for three goals in a single match before at this level, his absolute arse fell out of him, he has also been guilty of errors in previous games too. Some 'rolls royce' If Diop or Dawson did this they would be getting pelters, but the current flavour of the month can't be criticized? Only one person here that I can see who should be having a long hard look at themselves."

[marty feldman]

Every player has an absolute nightmare at some point in their career . Last night was one of those for aguerd. But he'll bounce back hes far too good a player not to .