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."

[Hermit Road]

"He shouldn’t have received the ball where he was and with opposition forwards so close. He did though and what happened next is entirely on him. All his good qualities mean jack shit if he makes errors like that. Our signings last summer and pretty much every time we spend large amounts, we’re dog shit."

[Eerie Descent]

"Yeah I must say, I'm not overly impressed with Zouma either. £65mil on a centre back pairing that can't defend against a half decent attack. The amount of space their attackers kept finding was embarrassing, there's no way we'd look this poor defending with Dawson in the side."

[zico]

"Don't really know what to make of him. One minute he is calmly back heading the ball back to the keeper, the next he is practically treading on the ball. I remember Winston Reid struggling early on but the difference being he was young, Aguerd should be in his prime. It's not just him though, Zouma just let them waltz through at times. One does wonder how these players would be under another manager."

[Eerie Descent]

"Is this lad going to be the new TEFLON? He cost £35mil, it's not like the ball was wrapped into him and someone was marking him touch tight. The pass was fine, he had time to react, he made a major ricket, and not for the first time. We need much, much better from him."

[threesixty]

"Looks like he told Fab to pass it Emerson and Fab passed it to him and he wasn't expecting it. I dont think Aguerd was expecting the ball at all, Fab should never pass it to a player so closely marked. Just trash decision making all around."

[Eindhoven Hammer]

All this bollocks about him being a Rolls Royce defender. Fucking laughable. About as reliable as a Lada.

[BRANDED]

As a defender you should not gove away easy goals. Ever.

[Manuel]

"Yea, Sullivan bought Ings."

[Eerie Descent]

"Ye can see he can spray a nice pass, and make a Hollywood recovery tackle, but ye can also see why no other club had tried to sign him up till this point. At 27 years of age, you'd think those Sunday league errors would be cut out by now. He's probably close to double figures in terms of errors that have led to goals. Impressive."

[collyrob]

"He’s made a few mistakes but ye can see there’s a player there. On the other hand though, Kehrer is an abomination."

[Eerie Descent]

"Ings was a panic buy by Sullivan because of the perilous state we're in. Another clueless move by an incompetent chairman, buying a striker who doesn't fit the manager's tactic of pump it up to an isolated forward. All the other signings were by Moyes and he's old mucker who he made the club employ as Director of Football."

[Rossal]

"Pentonville Incorrect, Ings was signed despite Moyes not choosing him. Ex revealed that on the latest pod."

[Side of Ham]

It’s no coincidence the players struggling most are defenders in their first season in the PL. What makes them struggle is the fact the players in front of them cannot retain the ball nor are they set up to. You all know you cannot judge whilst this poxy system keeps them under constant pressure with very few moments to have a break. Come up against a clinical team like Newcastle and it is a nightmare…..my advice to any player coming to a new league is see if they set up in a way that uses your all your skill set. Moyes needs to shop for players who are shit teams who are used to having their backs to the wall….that’s how shit he is…..

[Pentonville]

DR MATT it's Moyes who has final say on transfers. All were his buys.

[Alwaysaniron]

He has made a couple of errors and last nights was a howler (albeit with a huge cuntish assist from Flapianski). The lad is a good defender though and will improve with a team that has confidence. (Therein lies the problem and we all know it).

[The Ghost of Sven]

He has a lot of good in his game but he does have the propensity for an almighty RICKETT far too often. Left footed centre halves are like gold dust and you'd wonder why other teams werent looking at him .... maybe their scouting was more thorough and they were put off by the errors. That said its obvious and well known that Newcastle line 3 players along the edge of the box at goal kicks to deter playing out. Yet all night we had the two centre halves in the box to take passes. Only 1 has to go wrong and that a minute after h/t finished the game just after we had clawed back

[Eerie Descent]

"Once again, no one has written him off. However, he has not been half decent so far, he's been dreadful. We just lost 1-5 ffs Let's not forget Man Utd in the Cup. Gary Breen got his own song off the back of such a performance."

[camel-with-3-humps]

"He's made some blunders, but I actually think he's half decent. Too early to write him off."

[Dr Matt]

"Would be intriguing as to who signs the players. Doesn’t really matter if it’s Moyes, Sullivan snr, Sullivan jnr, Newman or whoever. But someone watched Lyon play and decided Paqueta was better value than Guimares and watched the French league and decided Aguerd was a better left sided CB than Botman and watched the PL and decided Areola was better value than Nick Pope. Whoever made these decisions needs to have their job reviewed."

[Eerie Descent]

"Look, no one wants this manager gone more than me, I've wanted him out since October, but you have to stop excusing this player from really poor defending. He is an accident waiting to happen. The thing that's blinding everyone is the fact that when he does something good, like spray a long pass or the Hollywood recovery slide tackle, it looks sensational. I'd rather him just be the bollocks at basic defending first. At £35mil, it looks bad business. Once again, he could possibly get better, but at 27, it really is worrying how many mistakes he is making."

[Eerie Descent]

"Look, no one wants this manager gone more than me, I've wanted him out since October, but you have to stop excusing this player from really poor defending. He is an accident waiting to happen. The thing that's blinding everyone is the fact that when he does something good, like spray a long pass or the Hollywood recovery slide tackle, it looks sensational. I'd rather him just be the bollocks at basic defending first. At £35mil, it looks bad business. Once again, he could possibly get better, but at 27, it really is worrying how many mistakes he is making."

[scott_d]

"He’s not average, he’s a very decent defender who is another victim if the Moyes crusade to ruin a pkayer. Many good players have joined West Ham and gone backwards under him. Sad to see another going in that direction."

[Stowie.40]

"He‚Äôs average, and to think that cսnt used his injury as an excuse to why we wasn‚Äôt higher. Fact is he is nowhere near what some have built him up to be, he has had more poor games than good and Wilson tore him apart last night, I don‚Äôt like how weak he is. For what we paid we‚Äôve been had over."

[Mex Martillo]

"I still think he is a good player, but these errors are a worry. Fabianski has to take some of the blame for yesterday. Looked to me that Aguerd wasn't expecting to get the ball and he did not have much space around him. Not that that is a good excuse. I have always thought Fabianski weakness is getting the ball out. His usual long kicks just give the ball back to the opposition. Still Newcastle were very fast to close in on the ball, we could improve in that area, it doesn't take great skill, just hard work."

[Manuel]

"Are you his agent? Never seen so many excuses for him, well actually I have, on here of course. He's been average at best since he's been here, clearly prone to mistakes and so what if he pings the odd good pass, he's a defender first and foremost, a defender that is making mistakes in practically every game. A rolls royce he most definitely isn't. You expect more for 30 mil."