West Ham on verge of announcing first summer signing

West Ham are on the verge of announcing their first signing of the summer in the form of Rennes defender Nayef Aguerd, according to reports.

The Hammers have struggled at centre-back this season, largely owing to injury. Angelo Ogbonna suffered a season-ending injury, while both Kurt Zouma and Issa Diop also spent significant time on the treatment table. That left Craig Dawson, now 32 years old, as a mainstay of the defence, and resulted in him racking up over 4000 minutes.

As a result, they are clearly in the market for defenders to strengthen their backline, with a move for Aguerd seemingly set to be completed imminently, according to reliable West Ham source EXWHUemployee.

The 6ft2″ centre-back appeared 31 times this season for the Ligue 1 side, scoring twice and providing three assists from the heart of defence.

REIMS, FRANCE – APRIL 09: Nayef Aguerd of Stade Rennais in action during the Ligue 1 Uber Eats match between Reims and Rennes at Stade Auguste Delaune on April 9, 2022 in Reims, France. (Photo by Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images)

Lingard in the works?

On the back of a gruelling campaign, it is clear that David Moyes is looking to strengthen early in the transfer window and, with Nicola Vlasic having failed to impress since his big-money move last summer, the Hammers are thought to be chasing Jesse Lingard once more.

LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 21: Jesse Lingard of West Ham United during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur at London Stadium(Photo by Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images).

Lingard enjoyed a brilliant end to the 2020-21 season while on loan at West Ham, but was unable to make the move permanent and now looks certain to leave Manchester United on a free transfer this summer when his contract runs out.

BREAKING: West Ham make an initial enquiry over signing #MUFC midfielder Jesse Lingard on a free transfer ⚒️ pic.twitter.com/dvy3HAQarp

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) May 24, 2022

And the Hammers are once more interested in bringing in the midfielder, though his wages could well prove to be a stumbling block. However, should he be able to recreate the sort of form he enjoyed during his last spell with the Hammers, they would surely pay for themselves.

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Premier League table

#	Team	MP	D	P
1	Manchester City	38	73	93
2	Liverpool FC	38	68	92
3	Chelsea FC	38	43	74
4	Tottenham Hotspur	38	29	71
5	Arsenal FC	38	13	69
6	Manchester United	38	0	58
7	West Ham United	38	9	56
8	Leicester City	38	3	52
9	Brighton & Hove Albion	38	-2	51
10	Wolverhampton Wanderers	38	-5	51
11	Newcastle United	38	-18	49
12	Crystal Palace	38	4	48
13	Brentford FC	38	-8	46
14	Aston Villa	38	-2	45
15	Southampton FC	38	-24	40
16	Everton FC	38	-23	39
17	Leeds United	38	-37	38
18	Burnley FC	38	-19	35
19	Watford FC	38	-43	23
20	Norwich City	38	-61	22

Player	Team	Goals
Salah, Mohamed	Liverpool FC	23
Son, Heung Min	Tottenham Hotspur	23
Ronaldo, Cristiano	Manchester United	18
Kane, Harry	Tottenham Hotspur	17
Mane, Sadio	Liverpool FC	16
De Bruyne, Kevin	Manchester City	15
Jota, Diogo	Liverpool FC	15
Vardy, Jamie	Leicester City	15
Zaha, Wilfried	Crystal Palace	14
Sterling, Raheem	Manchester City	13
Bowen, Jarrod	West Ham United	12
Maddison, James	Leicester City	12
Toney, Ivan	Brentford FC	12
Mount, Mason	Chelsea FC	11
Saka, Bukayo	Arsenal FC	11
Mahrez, Riyad	Manchester City	11
Richarlison	Everton FC	11
Pukki, Teemu	Norwich City	11
Raphinha	Leeds United	11
Watkins, Ollie	Aston Villa	11

Player	Team	Red Cards	Yellow Cards
Mings, Tyrone	Aston Villa	0	11
Xhaka, Granit	Arsenal FC	1	10
Tarkowski, James	Burnley FC	0	11
Firpo, Junior	Leeds United	0	11
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United	0	10
Gallagher, Conor	Crystal Palace	0	10
Brownhill, Josh	Burnley FC	0	10
Bednarek, Jan	Southampton FC	0	10
Bissouma, Yves	Brighton & Hove Albion	0	10
Moreno, Rodrigo	Leeds United	0	9
Neves, Ruben	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0	9
Romeu, Oriol	Southampton FC	0	9
Rudiger, Antonio	Chelsea FC	0	9
Mctominay, Scott	Manchester United	0	9
Salisu, Mohammed	Southampton FC	0	8
Ronaldo, Cristiano	Manchester United	0	8
Toney, Ivan	Brentford FC	0	8
Dennis, Emmanuel	Watford FC	0	7
Richarlison	Everton FC	0	8
Pogba, Paul	Manchester United	1	7

Player	Team	Assists
Salah, Mohamed	Liverpool FC	13
Alexander-Arnold, Trent	Liverpool FC	12
Barnes, Harvey	Leicester City	11
Kane, Harry	Tottenham Hotspur	10
Bowen, Jarrod	West Ham United	10
Mount, Mason	Chelsea FC	10
Robertson, Andy	Liverpool FC	10
Maddison, James	Leicester City	9
James, Reece	Chelsea FC	9
Pogba, Paul	Manchester United	9
Cancelo, Joao	Manchester City	9
De Bruyne, Kevin	Manchester City	8
Jesus, Gabriel	Manchester City	8
Kulusevski, Dejan	Tottenham Hotspur	8
Son, Heung Min	Tottenham Hotspur	7
Saka, Bukayo	Arsenal FC	7
Antonio, Michail	West Ham United	7
Lacazette, Alexandre	Arsenal FC	7
Mbeumo, Bryan	Brentford FC	7
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United	6