West Ham are sweating on the fitness of summer signing Nayef Aguerd, according to Daily Star journalist Paul Brown.

The Morocco international made the £30m switch from Rennes last month, but the defender suffered an ankle injury against Rangers on Tuesday and is facing an anxious wait on the result of his scan.

What happened to Aguerd?

West Ham have endured previous injury problems at centre-back with Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma suffering long-term issues last season, and their bad luck looks set to continue.

In just his second game for the club, Aguerd was involved in an incident in the Hammers' 3-1 defeat at Ibrox and was forced off after just 23 minutes.

GiveMeSport The Verdict

David Moyes revealed that Aguerd had sustained an ankle problem and while he breathed a sigh of believe that the centre-back didn't suffer a break, he was unable to confirm the extent of the damage.

He said: "We've already had Nayef x-rayed and there's no break in his ankle, which is good news."

"It might be some ligaments, or he's twisted his ankle. It blew up immediately, so we have to hope it's not a problem."

What did Brown say about Aguerd?

With West Ham still waiting to discover the outcome of Aguerd's scan, Brown reckons it would be a major blow to lose the defender just two weeks away from the start of the new season.

He told GIVEMESPORT: "He's had a scan and they're still waiting to see, as I understand, but there's no indication for the timescale.

"That would obviously be a big blow if he was unable to start the season because they've put a lot of stock into him and they're expecting him to be quite an important player for the club, so they wouldn't want him to be out for too long."

Can West Ham cope without Aguerd?

There's no doubt that losing Aguerd for any period of time would be a major blow to Moyes' early-season plans.

Regardless, the Hammers boss should be able to cope in his absence.

Craig Dawson, who's yet to feature in pre-season, is also currently on the sidelines, but Moyes still has three other centre-backs ready and waiting.

Ogbonna hasn't played competitively in 2022 after suffering an ACL injury, but concerns over Aguerd could see Issa Diop line up alongside Zouma when West Ham host the champions on Sunday week.