Hammers ‘target’ confirms offers

Reported West Ham target Nayef Aguerd has confirmed that he had offers to leave Stade Rennais in the summer transfer window but opted to stay with the French club.

The Hammers spent the majority of the window chasing a new central defender and eventually opted to sign Kurt Zouma from Chelsea.

He has gone on to become a big player for the club, emerging as a proper first-team star who regularly makes David Moyes’ starting XI.

However, Aguerd was also said to be the subject of an offer in the summer; a bid worth around £17m was said to be tabled for the centre-back, who has been in France since 2020.

He has made a total of 72 appearances for the club and is also a Morocco international with 17 caps to his name.

He has done an interview with French publication Ouest-France and was asked directly about the bids from England, although the Hammers weren’t mentioned by name.

Still, he has confirmed that there were offers, saying: “I told myself I still had a year left to prove myself. When you’re a player, you’re under contract, it’s the club that chooses. They didn’t want me to leave, even if I had offers. They chose to extend me by showing me that I was important to the club, in the dressing room. I signed directly and showed that I was part of the project.”

 

About Dave Langton

A journalist with 10 years' experience of working on National newspapers, now chief reporter covering the club that I've loved since I was a boy. Upton Park remains the greatest football stadium ever built.