Kevin Nolan now says Nayef Aguerd has been West Ham's best signing this season

By Ben Evans

West Ham United coach Kevin Nolan has now said that defender Nayef Aguerd has been their best signing this season.

Nolan was speaking to the Football Daily Podcast after the Hammers finally turned their recent fortunes around in midweek.

West Ham sit perilously above the relegation zone right now, and are in terrible form in the Premier League.

Their latest outing was a 4-0 defeat at high-flying Brighton where they barely had a shot on target.

However, they returned to the European action on Thursday against AEK Larnaca.

The Cypriot side stood little chance against West Ham, as Michail Antonio scored his first brace of the season in a 2-0 win.

West Ham recruited heavily in the summer, spending big fees on a number of players.

However, it’s not worked out for many of them at the London Stadium for a variety of reasons.

Kevin Nolan has now said Nayef Aguerd is the best player West Ham have brought in this season.

He laments his bad luck at the start of the campaign which certainly affected their early results.

Nolan names Aguerd as West Ham’s best signing this season

Speaking on the Football Daily podcast, Nolan said: “Nayef, unfortunately, at Rangers in the second or third pre-season game goes down with an ankle injury and he’s out for three months.

“He’s probably been our best signing if you like this season, because he’s been able to look from afar and go ‘actually, I know what this is about’, because he’s been around the environment.

“But, it takes a lot of those lads a lot of time to get used to it, to get used to the intensity, and it’s not just the intensity of what’s going on on Saturday.

“It’s the intensity that goes on every day, and what’s expected of them.”

The £50,000-a-week centre-back struggled for minutes at the start of the season when West Ham were short of defenders.

Aguerd then proved what he was capable of with Morocco at the World Cup, helping the Atlas Lions reach the semi-finals.

Stuart Pearce personally scouted Aguerd last season, and looks to have done a great job.

He’s been one of the few bright spots in an otherwise disappointing season for the club.

Nolan will be hoping West Ham can keep hold of Aguerd for next season, with Liverpool reportedly lurking.

The Moroccan now has to concentrate on keeping his side in the top-flight in the next couple of months.