West Ham have been regularly linked with a move for Rennes defender Nayef Aguerd in recent months and if the latest reports are to be believed, he is on the brink of joining David Moyes' side.

What's the word?

The Moroccan centre-back has been tipped for a €40m (£34m) move to the Hammers in recent weeks and journalist Dean Jones has now claimed that the deal is in its final stages.

He told GIVEMESPORT: "It’s almost there. They’re just ironing out the final stages of that deal now, so I think it’ll probably be announced by the end of the month. It sounds like all the other pieces are in place, they just need to get the actual finances signed off.”

Moyes' dream?

West Ham underwent a centre-back crisis last season, with Issa Diop, Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma all suffering long-term injuries during the campaign, with Craig Dawson often left as the sole centre-back option in Moyes' squad.

Therefore, it was always likely that the Scottish manager would move for a new, younger centre-back this summer, with Ogbonna perhaps never likely to fully recover from an anterior cruciate injury at the age of 34.

As impressive as Dawson was last season, he recently turned 32 and West Ham need to look to the future, so the signing of a 26-year-old Aguerd makes a lot of sense.

Last season saw the Rennes defender make 31 appearances in Ligue 1, contributing two goals and two assists, averaging a solid 6.88 rating from WhoScored for his performances.

The 6 foot 2 defender has regularly popped up with goals during his time in France and will undoubtedly add a new attacking threat for West Ham from corners and free-kicks, with the Hammers having scored 14 goals from set-piece situations last season.

Moyes will certainly be able to rely on the 26-year-old to be defensively sound, with WhoScored suggesting that Aguerd had only made two errors leading to shots in his last 90 games of football for Rennes and Dijon.

Therefore, with the Hammers set to splash the cash on Aguerd this summer, Moyes will be delighted that he has a new, younger centre-back to rely on next season.

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