Whisper of interest in West Ham Centre Back makes financial sense

The possibility of a £30 million-plus bid arriving in West Ham Director of Football Tim Steiden’s inbox was highlighted on Sunday afternoon. The offer, as quoted by footballinsider247.com, is likely to arrive for one of our team members who has been shortlisted for sale- but later in the window according to the report.

Following the purchase of Max Kilman for £40 million we have known for some time that the club have still been pursuing other centre-back options as part of the plan to tear down and start again with  the leaky defence which shipped over 70 goals last season.

Nayef Aguerd is apparently the subject of interest from as yet un-named clubs in Saudi Arabia. This makes sense as far as the decision to sell the player who has struggled both with injury since his first appearance and later with patchy form when partnering Kurt Zouma in defence.

However we are a little wary of these reports which seem to float in claiming ‘Saudi Money’ is on the way to rescue our squad rebuild so we’ll keep an eye on this to see if a specific offer transpires. Apparently Saudi clubs are preparing later offers for their targets in advance of an overhaul of their league structure: Hence the greater likelihood of a bid coming in nearer the August deadline.

Aguerd always struggled to hold down a regular place in the team after his £28 million acquisition from Rennes in the Summer of 2022 but immediately damaged his ankle in a pre-season game. He had several error-strewn, nervy performances and even back in February of this year it was suggested that David Moyes had decided to part ways with the player. We wondered whether Lopetegui’s new regime might mean a respite for the Moroccan but it does seem as if he might be making way for an upgrade if the promised ‘late bid’ comes in.