West Ham manager David Moyes believes that Nayef Aguerd was one of the two best left-sided centre-backs in France before they signed him from Rennes for £30m last summer.

Along with Sven Botman, who made the switch from Lille to Newcastle, Moyes claimed the pair were among the most impressive defenders in Ligue One, above even Monaco’s Benoit Badiashile:

“Botman and Aguerd I thought were probably the two best left-footed centre-backs in France. Obviously there’s the boy who has gone to Chelsea (Badiashile) and there’s a few others but they were in a similar category. And we lost our centre-half for six months at the start of the season when he got an injury at Ibrox in a pre-season friendly. So he’s only played four or five Premier League games and it’s been a huge miss and you can see what he has done to us.”

As Moyes mentions, Aguerd did get off to a rough start at the London Stadium. He rolled his ankle in a pre-season game that kept him out until early November.

However, since the New Year, Hammers supporters have begun to see the very best of the Moroccan international, with the defender helping to turn the London club’s form around.

In the ten appearances that Aguerd has made for West Ham so far, the team has only conceded eight goals, which shows the positive impact that the 26-year-old is having at the back.