John Textor revealed that West Ham had set an asking of £33.7million for centre-back Nayef Aguerd this summer.
The American businessman, who is in talks to take ownership of Everton if he can sell his stake in Crystal Palace, held a press conference on 11 September, transcribed by Paul Brown on X, to discuss issues relating to Ligue 1 outfit Lyon who he also owns.
Among those was Lyon’s interest in Aguerd and Brown said Textor revealed that the Hammers wanted £33.7m to sell the Morocco international during the summer window.
The 28-year-old eventually joined Real Sociedad on a season long loan as opposed to a permanent deal.
John Textor shares West Ham Nayef Aguerd asking price
Julen Lopetegui was keen to renovate his defensive line at the London Stadium after coming in as head coach over the summer.
This saw the likes of Kurt Zouma shipped off with a move to Saudi Arabia eventually going through [Nawaf Oga].
Aguerd was another centre half who the Spaniard was keen to move on, but it is perhaps a little surprising how much the Hammers were hoping to sell for.
While the club are absolutely right to have wanted to make a profit on him, it is hard to imagine many clubs would have reached that figure in the current climate of PSR uncertainty.
It probably explains why, in the end, a loan deal had to be agreed because not many would have been willing to cough up that sort of sum for a player the Hammers clearly didn’t want anymore.
Reducing his asking price may have been wise to allow him to move on and aid the finances of the Irons.
Given that money was spent on the likes of Max Kilman, Crysencio Summerville and Niclas Fullkrug, bringing some funds would have been beneficial to the balance sheets. Instead they will now have to try and raise some cash from a full sale further down the line.
In other West Ham news, a free-agent transfer decision has been made after the latest injury update.
