David Moyes has seemingly suffered a big blow at West Ham United, with summer signing Nayef Aguerd set to be sidelined after picking up an injury in the pre-season defeat against Rangers recently.

What's the word?

After signing in a £30m deal from Rennes, the 26-year-old had looked set to be a regular starter for the Hammers at centre-back next season.

However, he was forced off with an ankle injury in the 3-1 defeat at Ibrox, which could leave Moyes very short of options ahead of the season opener against reigning Premier League champions Manchester City.

In a recent interview with GiveMeSport, journalist Paul Brown shared the latest on the Moroccan's injury, saying: “He’s had a scan and they’re still waiting to see, as I understand, but there’s no indication for the timescale.

“That would obviously be a big blow if he was unable to start the season because they’ve put a lot of stock into him and they’re expecting him to be quite an important player for the club, so they wouldn’t want him to be out for too long.”

Supporters will be worried

Considering the quality of their opponents for their first league fixture of 2022/23, the last thing West Ham need is another injury crisis at centre-back.

Aguerd was brought into to add defensive squad depth after Craig Dawson was left as the only fit centre-back towards the end of last season, following long-term injuries to Angelo Ogbonna, Issa Diop and Kurt Zouma.

While the two Frenchmen should be fit to start the campaign, and Ogbonna has recovered from his ACL injury, Dawson has yet to feature in pre-season with a knock of his own, so Moyes will still be very low on numbers at the back if Aguerd isn't fit for the Irons' season opener on 7 August.

The Morocco international had appeared to be a shrewd acquisition given his performances in Ligue 1 in recent years, but it seems as if West Ham fans will have to wait a while to see him in competitive action, and they will be hoping that his ankle injury isn't too severe.

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