Sunderland make late transfer move for this West Ham United star

Sunderland are scheduled for some last-minute transfer business with West Ham United’s Nayef Aguerd being linked with a move to the Stadium of Light. The centre-back has produced impressive performances for the Hammers in recent years.

The English daily, Sunderland Echo, claims that Regis Le Bris’s side have submitted an official bid for Nayef Aguerd. This would be a race against time to get this deal structured and approved before the Monday evening deadline.

The Moroccan international arrived in the Premier League in 2022 and cost the Hammers £30 million. Over time, he has made 61 appearances for West Ham United. Notably, the defender spent the last season on loan at La Liga outfit Real Sociedad. Aguerd featured 36 times across all competitions last season for the Basque side.

What is the situation at West Ham United?

West Ham gaffer Graham Potter has relied on the defender’s services so far this season. Aguerd started both the Hammers league games against Sunderland and Chelsea, and even featured in the midweek EFL Cup clash against Wolverhampton Wanderers. It remains to be seen if the manager will allow Nayef Aguerd to leave so late in the window, with no reinforcements in sight for the London Stadium side.

The player has also been subject to interest from other clubs in Europe. According to reports emerging in the transfer market, French outfit Marseille are also monitoring the situation surrounding the African player. Marseille consider Aguerd as a serious contender to bolster the defence for manager Roberto De Zerbi.

West Ham United needs to act swiftly if it wishes to extract value from the sale of Aguerd, who will turn 30 in a few months. The club will also need to find a worthy replacement in the transfer market to provide Graham Potter with enough cushion to get through the season, after having already suffered three defeats in three games.

Read about another defender Sunderland want to sign

What is Sunderland’s recent stance?

The Black Cats’ sporting director, Kristjaan Speakman, has been among the pivotal figures driving the transfer policy at the Stadium of Light. Under the watch of Speakman, Sunderland has completed the signing of 12 players this summer.

When addressing the press ahead of Sunderland’s season opener against West Ham United, the sporting director laid emphasis on the fact that the club are not yet done in the transfer market and their enthusiasm will remain high until the closing minutes of the window on Monday. Speakman has been quoted as saying –

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“It is a process all the way through to the end of the month,” he said. “I mean, we’re trying to build the best squad for the Premier League that we can. We think we’ve had a really good start at that. Obviously, today will be a good test for us, the first game, but we’ll be working away through to deadline day to try to make sure that the team is the right team and the squad is the right squad.

Fans will be excited, obviously keen to see the new faces, but I think there’ll be a few as well who want a bit of reassurance. You know, we’ve seen history not be kind to some clubs that’ve had a real go. So it’s bound to be a bit of a gamble, it always is. But how much is the club future-proof to make sure everything will be okay in the long run? Yeah, we’ve always tried to look at every outcome when we make decisions.”