West Ham United set for major injury boost as Nayef Aguerd likely to return v Arsenal
West Ham are hopeful that Nayef Aguerd can feature against Arsenal in the Premier League clash on Boxing Day, according to ExWHUemployee.
Aguerd was initially picked for the crucial semi-final clash against France, but he was mysteriously pulled out as the players took to the field.
The central defender was suffering from flu and Morocco manager Walid Regragui was forced to drop him as a result. Just ahead of the match, Aguerd was replaced by Achraf Dari.
West Ham will look to do their own medical assessment on the thigh injury he picked up against Portugal but there is hope that he will be able to play against the Gunners on Boxing Day.
“The Moroccan manager has confirmed that he was still suffering the effects of flu and that was why he didn’t play rather than feeling his injury in the warm-up,” wrote Ex on his Patreon (15 December).
“Of course, West Ham will be looking to do their own medical assessment on his thigh before deciding what training and availability he has but there will now be hopes that the centre-back can be available for our first league game back away at Arsenal.”
Injury boost
The news will come as a massive sigh of relief to the Hammers camp.
With Kurt Zouma out injured, it would have been a massive blow for the club if they had lost Aguerd again through injuries.
The Moroccan defender already missed almost the entire first half of the season and it would have been a real blow if he had picked up another serious injury.
Morocco have enjoyed a great run in the World Cup and Ageurd was simply outstanding. He was hailed as “phenomenal” by award-winning journalist, Lorenz Kohler (27 November), for his outstanding performance against Belgium.
He hardly played for West Ham before the World Cup, but the way he carried himself in every game commands huge respect.
They have not only done their country proud but at the same time, Morocco have won the hearts of neutral fans across the world.
The only problem for Aguerd is that he will not have trained with the other West Ham players as he will be given ten days off due to his participation in the World Cup.
This will give him more time to recover fully, and hopefully, he will be ready to face the Gunners.