Nayef Aguerd ( ar, نايف أكرد; ber, ⵏⴰⵢⴼ ⴰⴳⵕⴹ; born 30 March 1996) is a Moroccan professional footballer who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Premier League club West Ham United and the Morocco national team. He has also played for FUS Rabat, Dijon and

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

Club career

Early career

Aguerd began his footballing career with the Mohammed VI Football Academy, before moving to FUS Rabat in 2014. The player then played a season with the club amateurs before signing his first professional contract with FUS Rabat in

Botola The Botola Pro ( ar, البطولة الاحترافية, translit=al-buṭūla l-iḥtirāfiyya), is a Moroccan professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Moroccan football league system, it is the country's prima ...

in 2014. During his first season with FUS Rabat, he was the runner-up of the 2015 Throne cup after losing the final against Olympique Club de Khouribga. On 15 February 2015, he scored his first goal for the team in a 3–1 victory against Wydad AC. On 3 March, he scored his first continental goal in a 1–1 draw against UMS de Loum.

Dijon

After four seasons, he joined Dijon in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

. He made his professional debut with Dijon in a 4–0 win over Nice on 25 August 2018, scoring the first goal for his side on his debut.

Rennes

On 14 August 2020, Aguerd signed a contract with Ligue 1 team Rennes from Dijon for an undisclosed fee believed to be between €4m and €5m. He scored his first goal for the club in a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

against Nice; the game ended in a 3–2 loss. On 13 September 2020, Aguerd scored his first league goal in a 4–2 victory against

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...

. On 17 May 2021, He was placed 11th place in the

Prix Marc-Vivien Foé The Prix Marc-Vivien Foé is an award in an honour to the late Marc-Vivien Foé Marc-Vivien Foé (1 May 1975 – 26 June 2003) was a Cameroonian professional footballer, who played as a defensive midfielder for both club and country. Having ini ...

as the best player who represents an African national football team in

. On 19 August 2021, Aguerd scored a header, which marked his first European goal, in a 2–0 victory against Rosenborg. A week later, Aguerd scored again in the second leg against Rosenborg in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round. On 16 May 2022, Aguerd was placed 3rd as the best African player in

for the

West Ham United

In June 2022, Aguerd signed for West Ham United on a five-year contract for a fee of £30 million. His fee was the fourth-highest paid by West Ham after those paid for Sébastien Haller,

Felipe Anderson Felipe Anderson Pereira Gomes (born 15 April 1993), known as Felipe Anderson, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Serie A club S.S. Lazio, Lazio. He has previously played for Santos FC, Santos, West Ham ...

and

Kurt Zouma Kurt Happy Zouma (born 27 October 1994) is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club West Ham United and the France national team. Zouma began his career at Saint-Étienne, making his professional debut aged 16, and ...

. On July 16, Aguerd made his debut for the Hammers in a friendly against Reading, playing a total of 63 minutes of a 1–1 draw at the Madejski Stadium. In his second game, a pre-season friendly against

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

on 19 July, Aguerd injured his ankle which required surgery. On 19 October, Aguerd returned back to training with the team three months after his injury. He made his competitive West Ham United debut on 27 October in a Europa Conference League game against Silkeborg, which West Ham won 1–0.

International career

Aguerd made his debut for the Morocco national team in a friendly 0–0 tie with Albania on 31 August 2016. Aguerd represented Morocco in the

2018 African Nations Championship The 2018 African Nations Championship, known as the Total African Nations Championship (also referred to as CHAN 2018) was the 5th edition of the African Nations Championship, a biennial football tournament organized by the Confederation of Afric ...

, helping his country to achieve their first CHAN title. On 6 September 2021, Aguerd scored his first goal against

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

in the

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualificationAlso the "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers". was the qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Parallel tour ...

, he sent a sharp shot in the net from a cross. He was later invited by Vahid Halilhodžić to represent Morocco in the

2021 Africa Cup of Nations The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (also referred to as AFCON 2021 or CAN 2021), known as the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's foo ...

. Nayef started all of his matches in the group stages. He scored an own-goal in a 2–2 draw against Gabon. On 10 November 2022, he was named in Morocco's 23-man squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

in Qatar. Aguerd played an important role in defence along with

Romain Saïss Romain Ghanem Paul Saïss ( ar, رومان غانم بول سايس; born 26 March 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Süper Lig club Beşiktaş and captains the Morocco national team. Saïss began his career wit ...

and was instrumental in Morocco reaching the Semi-finals of the world Cup. However, he missed the decisive game against France due to injury and was withdrawn minutes before the game, despite having been mentioned in the official starting line-ups prior to the match.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

:''Scores and results list Morocco's goal tally first.''

Honours

FUS Rabat *

: 2015–16 * Throne Cup runner-up: 2014–15 Morocco * African Nations Championship:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Individual * IFFHS CAF Men Team of The Year: 2020 Orders * Order of the Throne: 2022

References

External links

Nayef Aguerd
at West Ham United F.C. * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aguerd, Nayef 1996 births Living people People from Kenitra Moroccan footballers Association football defenders Mohammed VI Football Academy players Fath Union Sport players Dijon FCO players Stade Rennais F.C. players Ligue 1 players Botola players Moroccan expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in France 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Expatriate footballers in England West Ham United F.C. players Morocco youth international footballers Morocco A' international footballers Morocco international footballers 2018 African Nations Championship players Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in England Premier League players