West Ham must finally sell £30m flop who Moyes labelled a “great addition”

In the 2022/23 season, West Ham United spent around £161.9m on making nine new signings, as the Hammers geared up to improve upon their seventh place Premier League finish in 2021/22.

One man who was signed, and is still considered a key part of the squad now under Julen Lopetegui, is Lucas Paqueta, who’s made 101 appearances for the club, scoring 15 goals, providing 14 assists, and totaling 7,543 minutes played.

Despite this being viewed as a big window for West Ham, three of the players have already left the club on permanent deals, whilst another two players are currently out on loan.

How West Ham’s players are faring out on loan

One man out on loan, who was also signed in the 2022/23 season, is Maxwel Cornet. He is spending this season with newly promoted Southampton but the 27-year-old has only made four appearances for the Saints, totalling 187 minutes played, and is yet to register a goal or assist.

Another Hammers player on loan in the Premier League is James Ward-Prowse, who is spending this term with Nottingham Forest. The 30-year-old English midfielder has made eight appearances so far this season, with his only real blemish being a red card.

West Ham have three more players out on loan, one of which is 18-year-old midfielder, Mohamadou Kante, who was signed from Paris FC this summer, but has returned on loan to continue his development.

The last two players in question are both central defenders, one being Kurt Zouma, who is currently at Al-Orobah in the Saudi Pro League and the other is Nayef Aguerd, who was also signed in that 2022/23 window, and is currently with Real Sociedad in Spain.

Nayef Aguerd’s situation at West Ham

When Aguerd was first signed at West Ham by David Moyes for around £30m, the Scottish coach praised the defender for his character and attitude during discussions to bring him to the club, and said the Morocco international would be a “great addition” to the squad.

Since then, the 28-year-old has made 58 appearances for the club, scoring four goals, providing one assist, and totalling 5,019 minutes on the pitch.

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However, with Lopetegui joining the club, bringing Max Kilman, who he had worked with previously at Wolves, this allowed the club to loan out Aguerd, and now it would make a lot of sense to move him on permanently come the end of this campaign when you compare the two.

Kilman ranks ahead of Aguerd in five of the nine metrics analysed above, displaying better progressive numbers for both carries and passes per 90, and averaging more defensive actions completed per 90, apart from tackles.

Whilst Aguerd is making more passes per 90, and at a higher completion percentage, this can also be down to the style of play, as Real Sociedad are averaging 55.0% possession this season, compared to the 46.9% possession of West Ham.

With Kilman now taking the position of left centre-back as his own, West Ham can move Aguerd on permanently regardless of who the manager is come the end of the season, and re-invest the money into a different profile defensive option, possibly even to partner the former Wolves star.

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