Nayef Aguerd impresses on international duty as West Ham transfer now likely
West Ham United defender Nayef Aguerd kept a clean sheet in Morocco’s 6-0 victory over DR Congo, as clubs circle looking to sign the centre-back this summer.
The Hammers squad is being overhauled on a huge scale by new head coach Julen Lopetegui this summer, and Aguerd is one of the players tipped to move on from the London Stadium [Sunday People].
Aguerd saw out the full 90 minutes in Agadir as the Atlas Lions recorded a resounding victory to maintain their 100 per cent record in qualification so far, but the defender’s summer is expected to be anything but steady.
Clubs such as Atletico Madrid have already expressed their interest in signing the 28-year-old, and it remains to be seen how keen Lopetegui will be to keep hold of him in the upcoming transfer window.
Nayef Aguerd looks set to leave West Ham in the transfer window
Aguerd fell out of favour with previous Hammers manager David Moyes towards the back end of last season, the second of two campaigns which have both been disrupted by injury for the Moroccan.
His international place never came under threat though, and clean sheets on that stage – albeit against lesser opponents like Congo – won’t do his chances of attracting a top-level move any harm.
Emerging interest from Atletico Madrid, who will play in next season’s Champions League, would certainly be a step up for Aguerd, but it’s still unclear as to whether Lopetegui sees him as indispensable [Alan Nixon].
The Spaniard identified centre-back as one of six positions that needed strengthening upon his arrival in East London, but has already been knocked back by one target; Brazilian international Fabricio Bruno [Evening Standard].
Moves for players like Lopetegui’s former Wolves captain Max Kilman have also been mooted, but with Angelo Ogbonna set to depart and the potential of West Ham skipper Kurt Zouma also heading for an exit, the Irons could rue allowing a defender as talented as Aguerd to follow them out the door [The Sun].
In other West Ham news, Edson Alvarez was slammed by Mexican media after what the Hammers star did.
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