West Ham United ace Nayef Aguerd ‘one of the best defenders in Europe’ – Achraf Sidki
West Ham United’s first summer signing, Nayef Aguerd, has received some very high praise from one of his former teammates, Achraf Sidki.
The Moroccan international penned a five-year deal at the London Stadium on 20 June after the Hammers agreed a £30million deal with Stade Rennes of Ligue 1.
Sidki, who played alongside Aguerd for the well-known Mohammed VI Football Academy in Morocco, was actually surprised the 26-year-old didn’t move to the Premier League sooner.
“West Ham have signed one of the best defenders in Europe,” Sidki said to The Athletic. “I’m so proud that one of my former teammates will be playing in the Premier League.
“I’m surprised he didn’t move to England sooner. When we were younger we both had big dreams of becoming professional footballers. Nayef has done well and I’m confident he will be a great signing for West Ham.
“There were so many times he saved the team when we played together. That’s when I realised he was very good. I remember one occasion we played against a team called Tetouan.
“We needed to win and it was probably Nayef’s best game for the club. He was man of the match and after the game, I told him, ‘One day you will make it to the Premier League. You don’t know how good you are’.”
Keep it coming
With every ounce of high praise that gets lavished on Aguerd, the more confident and excited we become to see him play in the famous claret and blue of West Ham United.
We really needed someone to be the permanent partner to either Kurt Zouma or Craig Dawson with Angelo Ogbonna’s injury concerns leaving us a little thin on the ground last season.
Issa Diop has not quite made the impact we were hoping for since his arrival at the London Stadium so David Moyes had to act in the transfer window and he did with great swiftness.
You would assume that Aguerd will be the starting centre-half when we play Manchester City on the opening weekend of the Premier League season but the question mark now lies above who will be his partner.
Zouma is probably the most intimidating defender but his off-field issues could be a factor whereas Dawson is the ever-reliable man who rarely puts a foot wrong.
If we were choosing, Dawson would get the nod, just.