West Ham United transfer news: £30m exit on the cards as Nayef Aguerd causes ‘anxiety’ behind the scenes
Nayef Aguerd’s recovery from illness just in time to join up with Morocco for the Africa Cup of Nations is said to have “thrown anxiety into the minds of backroom staff” at West Ham, according to Claret & Hugh.
The Hammers-focused outlet reported via their website on 5 January that the defender’s absence “allegedly after a long period of sickness”, coupled with his form and fitness fluctuations have “focused minds” and the club are now ready to let him leave if they can get their money back for him.
West Ham paid Rennes £30million two summers’ ago [BBC Sport] and the Irons are now willing to part with him after he missed three consecutive games against Manchester United, Arsenal and Brighton before heading off on international duty.
However, repeated links to Saudi Arabian clubs are apparently wide of the mark so far with a club source hoping it does materialise, telling C&H: “We wouldn’t mind some over the top Saudi offers for some of our players.”
Brief stay
It may well just be a coincidence that Aguerd’s illness cleared up ready for AFCON but if a club was now willing to put big money on the table to sign him West Ham might as well consider it either way.
David Moyes continues to target the centre-back position for improvements, and while the 27-year-old has by no means been a failure at the London Stadium his inconsistency might suggest an upgrade could be landed for the same money.
The Irons would however need to ensure they aren’t storing up too much work in the transfer market that they can’t follow through on, since Kurt Zouma’s knees and Thilo Kehrer’s confirmed exit to Monaco means an addition is already on the agenda.
There were exit links with Aguerd during the summer transfer window that came to nothing, as he was said to be “very happy” at the club according to Fabrizio Romano on 6 September.
Moyes and his staff clearly didn’t doubt the Moroccan’s commitment at that stage as he went on to start 16 of 20 Premier League games and four of six in the Europa League.
But if transfer interest isn’t going away and the club believe they can find a better alternative with a significant windfall from selling him then perhaps his stay in East London will prove to be a short one.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers could snap up a rival for nothing after the latest news from David Ornstein.