West Ham have a date pencilled in for the long awaiting debut of our summer signing Nayef Aguerd.

The £30m signing from Rennes has been out of action since July after he picked up an ankle injury in a pre-season friendly against Rangers.

It was a huge blow for all concerned as the injury required surgery, meaning the Moroccan international has not yet made his competitive debut for the club despite joining over 4 months ago, however the defender is edging close to finally making his bow.

The long term plan in Aguerds recovery has been for him to return to action prior to the World Cup break, and at present he is very much on track with the programme set with the club now earmarking a date for which he is now looking highly likely to feature.

Manager David Moyes is unlikely to utilise Aguerd in the Premier League prior to the international tournament in Qatar this winter, however the plan is for our summer acquisition to compete in domestic cup, European football and friendlies ahead season break.

Our Europa Conference League clash against Silkeborg this Thursday is likely to be too soon, however our trip to Romania a week later on 3rd November to face FCSB is pencilled in as the likely debut date for the highly rated centre-back.

It has been a bitter blow for the Moyes in particular, with Aguerd earmarked by the Scot as a key component to his plans this season, so having Aguerd finally available to showcase his qualities will be a huge relief for the boss.

The hope is that Aguerd will be able to compete in a few matches before the World Cup with his native Morocco, for which he is then expected to play all group matches at least. Moyes will be hoping his match fitness will then be at a level for the defender to make his Premier League debut against Arsenal on Boxing Day.

The match against the Gunners at the Emirates has been moved to 8pm and will be shown live on Amazon, as revealed by The West Ham Way‘s man-in-the-know ExWHUEmployee.