Why West Ham rejected Nayef Aguerd shirt number request as transfer confirmed

New West Ham signing Nayef Aguerd has revealed he wanted to choose the No.6 shirt but settled for 27 due to a request from his best friend in Morocco.

The 26-year-old centre-back signed a five-year deal at the London Stadium on Monday after the Hammers agreed on a fee of around £30million with French side Rennes. Aguerd is the first signing of the summer for David Moyes and addresses a key position on the pitch that the manager felt needed strengthening in the window.

Moyes is said to be a big fan of Aguerd having tracked his progress for several months before making his mind up and trying to bring him to east London. After he was announced as a new player, Moyes referenced Aguerd’s character and attitude during negotiations as an indicator he’d made the right choice.

But despite ticking all the right boxes so far, West Ham weren't willing to give their new man the retired No.6 shirt that he wanted. The number was worn by Hammers legend Bobby Moore who famously lifted England's only World Cup trophy at Wembley as captain in 1966.

Moore made his first appearance for the club aged 17 against Manchester United in 1958, with West Ham officially retiring his shirt number 50 years later in 2008, with Matthew Upson, who had been wearing the No.6 prior to the announcement, moving to the No.15.

And after realising he couldn’t take the number of the legend Moore, Aguerd said he chose 27 after making a promise to a close friend to one day wear the same number of his favourite player - Argentinian midfielder Javier Pastore.

"My best friend in Morocco, I had a promise for him – because this is his best number – so I told him ‘in my career one day I will put this number for sure," Aguerd told West Ham’s website. "Because of