West Ham defender Nayef Aguerd has emerged in recent days as a major transfer target for Al-Ittihad. The Saudi side were hoping to use the offer of a huge salary increase to lure the 27 year old to the club. Here’s the latest with the potential Nayef Aguerd Al-Ittihad transfer.
The Moroccan international only joined West Ham last summer in a £30m move from Rennes. He made 17 Premier League starts in his debut season in England and has started 3 of the club’s 4 matches so far this term, only missing the trip to Brighton as a result of a suspension incurred for his red card in the 3-1 victory over Chelsea.
Aguerd had opened the scoring in that game and appears a clear first choice pick in the heart of defence for David Moyes. His importance to West Ham meant this was always going to be a difficult transfer for Al-Ittihad to pull off, particularly after the transfer window had already closed in England, leaving the East London club with no real options in terms of signing a replacement.
Nayef Aguerd Al-Ittihad transfer – Deal off?
Nayef Aguerd & Saudi won’t happen now — Nayef, very happy at West Ham and West Ham are very happy with him also 🛠️🇲🇦 #WHUFC
West Ham have already rejected several offers this summer — considering him as top centre back. pic.twitter.com/wsOSOilAnO
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 6, 2023
Al-Ittihad are clearly keen to still do business with Premier League clubs with the belief that huge offers could still tempt English teams into selling star assets. Their potentially record-breaking pursuit of Mo Salah has been well documented in recent days and Nayef Aguerd has been another major target for the defending Saudi champions.
This deal is starting to look increasingly unlikely though, with transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano stating the move “won’t happen now”.
West Ham have little intention of selling the player and it would most likely take a mammoth offer from Al-Ittihad for them to reconsider that position. With their pursuit of Salah, the Saudi side have shown that they are willing to go to levels not seen yet in even this craziest of summers. However, they may have to admit defeat in their pursuit of Aguerd.
Could West Ham cope without Aguerd?
The Premier League side do still have new signing Konstantinos Mavropanos to bring into the fold with the Greek centre-back nursing a minor injury which has delayed his West Ham debut. Kurt Zouma, Thilo Kehrer and Angelo Ogbonna are also options, so they are not short on central defenders but after a really bright start to the new campaign, West Ham are understandably keen to keep their best defender.
It has been reported that Aguerd would have earned more than £160,000 per week at Al-Ittihad, a massive pay rise on his current West Ham contract. However, for now at least, it seems as though the defender is committed to his current club and keen to build on a solid first season in England by developing into one of the Premier League’s best central defenders.
The Saudi Pro League has confirmed that their transfer window will close on Thursday September 7th. With both West Ham and Aguerd seemingly unwilling to entertain any fresh approach from Al-Ittihad, there now appears to be little prospect of this deal being resurrected.
