West Ham have received the most timely of boosts with news of a major U-turn from Real Sociedad over Nayef Aguerd and it could change everything.
The Hammers are desperately trying to offload a number of players to raise funds for signings.
Mohammed Kudus is West Ham’s biggest hope of bringing in some cash for Graham Potter’s window kitty.
West Ham’s board has confirmed three Premier League clubs are interested in Kudus.
But none of them have made a firm bid yet.
West Ham struggling to make the quick sale they need
That leaves Potter, head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay and de facto director of football David Sullivan with their hands tied over signings.
Potter told West Ham fans they were in for an ‘exciting and interesting’ summer transfer window.
The Englishman also pledged to overhaul his side with young, dynamic players who would have future resale value to protect the Hammers from the situation they are in now – with the oldest squad in the Premier League and few sellable assets.
West Ham have made it clear they need to sell before they can buy and are desperate to do just that so they can ‘start trading’.
Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images
Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images
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With no sign of a quick deal to offload Kudus, the Hammers can only sit and watch rivals get early business in order.
Now there is some real hope in the shape of the club’s next best bet for a worthwhile fee.
And it’s Real Sociedad to the rescue for West Ham’s window after a sudden Nayef Aguerd U-turn.
Hammers News exclusively revealed back in April that Aguerd has no interest in playing for West Ham again.
Real Sociedad to rescue West Ham’s window after Aguerd U-turn
The Moroccan defender, who struggled to cope with the pace and physicality of English football, has doubled down on that since after claims Potter may want to reintegrate him into the Hammers team.
There was fantastic news for the Irons 10 days ago when it emerged that Marseille, Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid all want to sign Aguerd.
Especially as it came in the wake of reports Real Sociedad don’t want to make his move permanent.
Reports in Spain claimed West Ham loanee Aguerd had ‘already played his last game’ for unconvinced Sociedad.
Thankfully, Roberto De Zerbi at Marseille and Erik ten Hag at Leverkusen have reportedly made Aguerd’s signature a priority with reports suggesting West Ham can expect to get between £15-20m back on their ill-advised original £30m investment.
Photo by Ion Alcoba Beitia/Getty Images
Photo by Ion Alcoba Beitia/Getty Images
Now there’s even better news for Potter’s summer transfer plans.
Because according to leading Spanish outlet AS, Real Sociedad are ‘back in the fight’ to sign Aguerd from West Ham.
That now means Real Sociedad, Marseille, Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid are all vying for the 29-year-old.
Each of those clubs has something in common this summer – they all have plenty of money to spend.
Leverkusen are set to raise over £150m in the sale of just two players once Florian Wirtz follows Jeremie Frimpong to Liverpool.
Marseille are throwing money behind De Zerbi after he led them into the Champions League.
Aguerd’s suitors all have big money to spend
Money is never an issue for Atleti when they want a player.
And Sociedad are about to make over £50m selling Martin Zubomendi to either Arsenal or Real Madrid.
West Ham can now feel more confident than ever of getting some return on Aguerd.
More importantly the number of clubs competing means the Hammers will be confident of that deal going through sooner rather than later.
Should that be the case, the purse strings will suddenly loosen for Potter to go out and get a player or two given West Ham only have to worry about paying the first instalments of any deals they pull off.
Aguerd made 34 starts for Sociedad last season and was statistically their second best-performing player overall according to WhoScored.