West Ham have doubled down on their stance as they continue to take a no-nonsense approach to the sale of Nayef Aguerd.
At the start of June, Claret & Hugh reported in our article “Pay Up or Turn Up” that the club were in no mood to be messed around over any potential transfer.
Aguerd has made it clear he wants Champions League football and has asked not to return to West Ham. Real Sociedad, Atletico Madrid, and Bayer Leverkusen were all said to be interested—but no concrete bids have materialised.
Marseille are believed to have made tentative enquiries at less than £15m, which was swiftly dismissed as a non-starter.
A top London Stadium source told Claret & Hugh last month: “The player is contracted to us and he’ll have to return if we don’t get the right money.”
Now, the club have reiterated their position, rejecting derisory offers that fall well short of their £25m+ valuation.
West Ham will recall and used Aguerd next season
As a result, manager Graham Potter is preparing to keep Aguerd in the squad for next season, where he could still play a key role—especially if no suitable bids arrive.
As far as West Ham are concerned, Aguerd is under contract and will be expected to report for pre-season training next week.
Whilst the clubs tough-stance is admirable, it will be interesting to see if they take a similar line with the sale of Mohammed Kudus.
About time hope they stick to it.
this kind of stance should be made with all players afterall they are employees and if they do not turn up for work then breach of contract and simply do not pay the player until he does and if he chooses not to then we have the players registration and he cannot turn out for another club so shut up whinging and turn up.
It just underlined how poor we’ve been in the last 2 years, that most of our players’ values have diminished. Poor recruitment, character and/or coaching. Stick with an unhappy settled squad or sell at a big loss and bring in players nobody else wants. Our lack of bargaining power reflects our weak position. Complacency from the board being the catalyst.