Sunderland get Nayef Aguerd answer as official West Ham United announcement made
Sunderland have been strongly linked to West Ham United’s Nayef Aguerd in recent weeks.
The Moroccan international fell out of favour at the London Stadium and was sent on loan to Real Sociedad last season.
Now, back at West Ham, rumours have circulated about where Aguerd’s future lies.
Sunderland have been linked with Aguerd as Regis Le Bris looks to improve his defensive options.
Now the transfer saga has developed further as the start of the Premier League season edges closer.
Aguerd looks set to stay at West Ham
While Sunderland were interested in Aguerd, plenty of other clubs were also linked, including AC Milan.
However, the centre-back now looks set to stay at the Hammers and will work under Graham Potter this season.
West Ham released a statement on Thursday (24 July) confirming that Aguerd will switch squad numbers from 27 to five ahead of the new campaign.
| Nayef Aguerd’s West Ham career | |
| Appearances | 58 |
| Goals | 4 |
| Assists | 1 |
| Honours | Europa Conference League x1 |
This follows the 29-year-old taking part in their recent pre-season friendly against Grasshopper and is now in the squad to travel to the US for the Hammers’ pre-season tour.
Therefore, it seems safe to say that West Ham do not have any interest in selling Aguerd this summer.
Upgrading his number to five – usually a starting centre-back – is pretty telling about where his future lies.
Le Bris has to target defensive reinforcements
While Sunderland have brought in multiple impressive signings so far this summer, many of the players who have come in occupy the attacking positions.
Now, Le Bris must look to sign defensive reinforcements. It is no good having a great attack if the Black Cats are consistently conceding goals.
While multiple names have been linked to the Stadium of Light, Le Bris now needs to take action to ensure players are brought in before the start of the Premier League season.
Hopefully more moves will now be made over the coming weeks to ensure a new defender is brought in for the West Ham match.
Sign up for the Mackem News WhatsApp channel and turn on notifications to have all the latest, breaking Sunderland AFC news sent straight to your phone.