Ex confirms West Ham 'definitely' want 26 y/o who David Sullivan personally pursued

Insider ExWHUemployee has revealed that West Ham United have an interest in signing centre-back Nayef Aguerd. 

Towards the end of this season, the club’s attempts at a strong finish were scuppered somewhat by an injury crisis in defence that saw the likes of Issa Diop, Kurt Zouma and Angelo Ogbonna all spend time on the sidelines.

Perhaps with that in the back of his mind, it seems like David Moyes is going to be targeting a new centre-back in the summer, and one new name from Ligue 1 outfit Rennes has recently popped up.

Indeed, while talking on The West Ham Way podcast, Ex stated that defender Aguerd fits the ‘criteria’ for what the club are chasing and so he is ‘definitely’ an option they will consider.

He explained: “One centre-back we are keen on is Nayef Aguerd – a Moroccan defender that plays in France for Rennes.

“He’s won the African Nations Cup, he’s over six foot three, which is often a criteria that David Moyes looks for in his centre-backs, he wants them to be of a certain height. He’s definitely a target.”

TIF Thoughts on Nayef Aguerd and West Ham…

Interestingly, David Sullivan went on a personal mission to try and sign the defender last summer.

This season, Aguerd has played in 39 games across all competitions for Rennes – starting all but one of their games in Europe too, coming up against the likes of Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City along the way (via Transfermarkt).

While Ex mentions the 26-year-old managed to win the Africa Cup of Nations, this is not actually true as Morocco have not lifted the trophy since 1976.

However, he did start for his country in all five of their matches at AFCON earlier this year. He even played 120 minutes as his country lost against Egypt in the quarter-final – picking