West Ham United want to sign Rennes defender Adrien Truffert as Aaron Cresswell replacement, Nayef Aguerd has recommended him – ExWHUemployee
West Ham are interested in signing Rennes left-back Adrien Truffert to replace Aaron Cresswell, according to ExWHUemployee.
Writing on his Patreon account (20 July) the Hammers are looking at Ligue 1 for potential replacements at left-back, with Cresswell increasingly likely to leave in a £5m deal to join Wolves.
And director of football Tim Steidten has identified three potential replacements, with current defender Nayef Aguerd “highly” recommending his former Rennes teammate for a transfer.
“Adrien Truffert of Rennes is a potential target as we have watched him a number of times. The French international is only 21 too,” he wrote.
“Ismail Jakobs is also someone we and Tim Steidten have admired for a long time. The left-back played in Germany for Cologne before moving to Monaco. We have watched him numerous times and Paul Mitchell who is a friend of Mark Noble’s and was involved as a sporting director at Monaco is said to have recommended the player to our former captain.
“Both players along with Melvin Bard of Nice are said to have been scouted by the West Ham recruitment team.
“Nayef Aguerd is said to has also highly recommended Adrien Truffert after being a former teammate of his.”
Solid
The sale of Cresswell won’t be a huge blow to West Ham and won’t come as a massive shock to fans, but it certainly isn’t something that was planned for or expected.
His exit not only means that the potential next captain is likely to be gone before he even wears the armband, but it means another area of the pitch needs to be strengthened ahead of the new season.
Moyes is clearly a big fan of Emerson Palmieri after starting him in the Europa Conference League final, and he is likely to be the first choice for the new season.
But if Aguerd is recommending players that is something the club should be paying attention to considering how well he did in his first season at the club, and the fact they’ll be starting together on the left side of the defence.
There are several options on the table and ultimately the best deal will be the one the club go with, but it’s clear the search is on for a new left-back for the second summer running.
In other West Ham news, one star could leave the club on a loan-to-buy deal for an initial £3.4m.