West Ham United manager Julen Lopetegui is a man under pressure, with results at the London Stadium falling well below expectations since he was appointed in the summer.
That is despite making some impressive signings during the transfer window, as he brought players such as Max Kilman, Crysencio Summerville and Luis Guilherme to London in order to bolster his squad.
The majority of his signings have yet to gel, hence why the club are struggling way down in the bottom half of the Premier League table.
Lopetegui moved a few players on this summer. Could some of these departures prove to be a bit hasty?
West Ham’s summer transfer departures
Wanting to sign new players often requires the manager to move on some deadwood in order to raise funds. This saw Flynn Downes, Said Benrahma and Thilo Kehrer all leave the club on permanent deals.
Benrahma has registered four goal contributions in just 11 games for Lyon, while Kehrer is starring for AS Monaco, who find themselves second in Ligue 1, just six points behind PSG.
Perhaps one of his glaring errors was allowing defender Nayef Aguerd to leave on a temporary basis, with the Moroccan joining Real Sociedad until the end of the season.
Recently, he even managed to prevent Barcelona from scoring during their La Liga clash with Sociedad prior to the international break.
Nayef Aguerd’s statistics this season
The centre-back joined West Ham in 2022, but his first season saw him struggle to make much of an impact due to an injury he suffered in pre-season.
The 28-year-old did recover to help Morocco reach the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup, being hailed as a “superstar” by one journalist in the process.
Nayef Aguerd’s PL statistics for West Ham | ||
|---|---|---|
Metric per 90 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Accurate passes | 33.3 | 44.6 |
Total duels won | 3.9 | 4 |
Tackles | 1.5 | 1.2 |
Possession lost | 9.9 | 11.8 |
Interceptions | 1 | 0.8 |
Lopetegui signed Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo during the summer, which meant Aguerd ran the risk of slipping down the pecking order, thus moving to Spain for the season.
The defender has made 12 appearances for the club so far, yet it is in the league where he has impressed. Aguerd averages a 91% pass success rate in La Liga, along with winning 68% of his total duels, making 1.3 tackles and making 4.1 clearances per game.
It was against Barcelona where he displayed his qualities, however, shackling their £104m-rated trio – as per Transfermarkt – of Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and Fermin Lopez during the clash, who all failed to get on the scoresheet during the 1-0 defeat.
During the encounter, the on-loan defender made seven clearances, one tackle, lost possession just four times and won three of his five total duels.
It was an impressive performance by the Moroccan, and he could certainly help Lopetegui’s team at this current moment in time, as they are struggling in the Premier League.
If he keeps putting in wonderful performances in Spain, then the defender may attract several suitors next summer.
It is clear that the club made a mistake loaning him out, as he should be slotting straight into the starting XI, with his displays in La Liga demonstrating evidence of this.
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West Ham could certainly do with the attacker’s qualities under Julen Lopetegui.
