Saturday promises to be an emotional experience for Nayef Aguerd.
For the first time since joining West Ham United, the Morocco centre-back will play at Roazhon Park – the home of his former team Stade Rennais – as the Hammers face the Ligue 1 side in pre-season action.
Aguerd made the switch from the Brittany capital to English capital last summer, having spent two years with Les Rouge et Noirs; a time in which the defender got to experience UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League football for the first time in his career and make lifelong friends.
While the focus will be on essential pre-season minutes, improving fitness, and preparations for the new Premier League campaign, Aguerd wants to ensure he enjoys the game too.
“I’m very happy to go back there,” he told whufc.com. “I have a lot of friends there, both players and people that work behind the scenes at the Club. Stade Rennais and everyone there helped me a lot and I am where I am today because of the people at that club.
“They gave me the chance to show my qualities and we also got to play Champions League football as well. Roazhon Park is a brilliant stadium too and the atmosphere was always unbelievable, so for sure it will be an emotional game for me.”
While the Rennes squad has, of course, seen other incomings and departures since Aguerd’s own transfer, there are still many familiar faces in the French team. Each brings their own qualities to the side, something the 27-year-old knows only too well.
In a position to offer an almost unique level of insight into Saturday’s opponents, Aguerd explained how he expects his former side to set up this weekend.
“Rennes play a collective game. I can’t pick just one or two players to pick out because, obviously I know the manager there very well, and he doesn’t like focusing on the individuals in the team. It is about the unit; the team as a whole. That’s the philosophy of the entire club.
“As a defender, my job will be to stop their attacking players, and I know they have a lot of quality, but I’m looking forward to it.”
Aguerd has been a West Ham player for just over 13 months now, with his first season in Claret and Blue bringing the oxymoron of unforgettable highs and unimaginable lows.
It was in mid-July 2022 that Aguerd was injured in a pre-season loss to Rangers, forcing the centre-back to miss the first three months of competitive action for West Ham.
His recovery period and schedule allowed the defender to return in time to allow him the honour of representing Morocco at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar; a competition that they defeated both Spain and Portugal in to reach the semi-finals and finish in an historic fourth place.
Back with the Hammers, and a difficult run in domestic football was a challenge for Aguerd and his teammates. With Premier League football assured though, the campaign ended in the most spectacular of fashions, as he and his teammates lifted the Club’s first major trophy in 43 years; the UEFA Europa Conference League.
“It was about this time last year, against Rangers, that the injury happened,” he mused. “Of course, it was a horrible moment. I was very sad. It took a lot of hard work to get back but now it’s behind me, a good few months behind me, and now I’m looking forward to showing more of qualities.
“I think the West Ham fans have started to get to know me in the games I played last season, but the injury really stopped me from showing a lot in the first half of the season.
“But, on the other side, I got to play in a World Cup with my country and I also got to win an amazing trophy with this Club. They’re the big, amazing moments from last season that I’ll always carry with me.”
Such was the nature of the 2022/23 season, with his injury, World Cup commitments, and the Irons’ extensive fixture schedule, that Aguerd hardly had the chance to connect with family throughout the year. It was a wrong he made sure to remedy during the off-season, spending his entire summer back home.
He confirmed: “It was a good summer. I got to spend it with my family in Morocco. Throughout the year, they don’t see me enough.
“My little sister is at school is Morocco and the holidays don’t match up, so it’s hard to see each other. When she was on holiday, I was with the national team. I only saw my family twice last season, throughout the year, so I took the decision to spend my summer completely in Morocco with them. It was so wonderful.”
Those moments of down time were crucial for Aguerd. Mentally, physically, and emotionally, the defender is recharged and ready to put in the work once again.
Having returned to the Rush Green training ground last Monday, the No27 got his first minutes of pre-season under his belt away to Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday and is looking forward to adding even more at his former stomping ground.
With a second season in Claret and Blue set to get underway, Aguerd is eager to make the best possible start to the 2023/24 campaign.
“It has been good to be back and see the lads,” he added. “We’ve started our pre-season, us internationals, last week and we’ve had one game against Dagenham. It’s going well so far and we’re getting there, step by step. It’s been hard work on a physical level but I’m happy to be back and doing the work.
“This time is very, very important. Physically, we had to be prepared for the new season. Of course, during the off-season, we all do little bits of work and maintain fitness, but it is nothing compared to training every day with our teammates.
“We’ve got a couple of weeks to go and, step by step, we’ll build those attributes up so we’re ready to go.”
