West Ham United to reject any bid from Saudi club Al-Ittihad for Nayef Aguerd
West Ham intend to reject any late approaches for defender Nayef Aguerd, according to Sean Whetstone.
The 6Foot2 editor posted on his personal Twitter account on Friday [1 September] that any interest from elsewhere is irrelevant at this stage.
The update comes following a claim made by Saudi Arabian News 24 reporter Salem Al Kulaib on Friday [31 August] that Aguerd has told Al-Ittihad he is open to a move.
Whetstone tweeted from his West Ham Football account: “Nayef Aguerd has reportedly given his approval to Saudi Arabian club Al-Ittihad according to a Saudi journalist Salem Al Kulaib.
“But it is irrelevant if true or not as West Ham would reject any late approach with no time to find a replacement.”
No chance
The only reason Aguerd would entertain a move to Saudi Arabia, if those previous rumours are true, is for a major payday.
After all, why else would he opt to leave West Ham, where he is a regular in the heart of defence?
It is worth noting that the transfer window for Saudi Arabian clubs does not close for another week.
However, West Ham only have until 11pm today [1 September] to bring in cover, so it is entirely understandable that they are not entertaining any offers.
Aguerd has been serving a suspension for his red card against Chelsea, but he is now back and likely to slot into the heart of defence alongside Kurt Zouma against Luton Town on Friday [1 September] night.
Angelo Ogbonna and the not-yet-fit new signing Konstantinos Mavropanos are also on West Ham’s books in terms of centre-backs, but David Moyes will want to keep all four as this is set to be a very long campaign.
Had the supposed interest in Aguerd emerged earlier, who knows what would have happened?
As it is, there is absolutely no way West Ham will sanction his sale at this point.
In other West Ham news, Moyes has hinted towards the type of player the Hammers would like to sign.