West Ham defender Nayef Aguerd will return to the club next week following a shortened break at the end of Morocco’s World Cup campaign, but it is uncertain if he will feature against Arsenal on Boxing Day.
Morocco were beaten 2-0 by France in Wednesday night’s second semi-final, though they are not yet finished in Qatar, with a third-place playoff to come against Croatia on Saturday.
The Hammers have given most of their World Cup players around 10 days off following their respective exits, but it is understood that Aguerd is due back at Rush Green on December 23.
The centre-back will have to prove his fitness, having missed Morocco’s last two matches at the World Cup. Aguerd limped off with a thigh strain during the last-16 win over Spain and then sat out the quarter-final victory over Portugal.
He was named in the starting lineup for the game against France, but was withdrawn shortly before kick-off, though manager Walid Regragui claimed afterwards that Aguerd’s absence was because he had been “recovering from flu”.
It is not yet clear whether Aguerd could feature in the third-place game, but even if he returns to London with a clean bill of health, the 26-year-old will have hardly trained with his Hammers team-mates before the trip to the Emirates on Boxing Day.
Aguerd was a marquee £26million signings from Rennes in the summer but suffered an ankle injury in pre-season and did not make his Premier League debut until coming on as a substitute against Leicester in the Irons’ final match before the World Cup break.
Thilo Kehrer, Lucas Paqueta and Declan Rice are all expected to be available to face Arsenal after their World Cup exploits, but Alphonse Areola remains in Qatar with France.
