Aguerd’s Meteoric Rise: From Academy Prodigy to Marseille’s Game-Changer

Nayef Aguerd, 29 years old, scored the fourth and final goal of his team in the 93rd minute in his first match with the Olympians counting for the 4th day of the championship against FC Lorient (4-0), on September 12. On September 22, 2025, as part of the 5th day, he scored the only goal of his first Clasico against Paris Saint-Germain, for a first OM home victory in a Clasico championship since November 2011. In just a few days after his recruitment, the Moroccan international has already made an impression. This does not surprise Nasser Larguet, former director of the Mohammed VI Academy in Rabat, who had spotted the young talent in 2009.

He is convinced that he will shine in Marseille. "At the Academy, he had understood that before going to Europe, playing a few seasons in Morocco, in a good club, would be part of his progression. Dijon, Rennes, West Ham, Real Sociedad and now OM... He does things in order, without rushing, by thinking. That’s Nayef..." Jamal Sellami, the current coach of Jordan, whom he qualified for the 2026 World Cup, and former coach of Nayef during the 2018 CHAN, also expresses his optimism: "I think Nayef Aguerd will bring a lot to OM, who needed an experienced central defender. Wherever he has played, he has managed to establish himself and he will do so in Marseille."

Larguet had noticed the young Nayef during a tournament reserved for under-12s. "He was playing number 10 then, and I had been struck by his technical quality, the precision of his left foot, his long game. We had convinced his parents for him to join the Academy in 2009," explains the former training director of OM, now technical director of Saudi Arabia. The young prodigy is interested in the central defender position. "During small-sided games, he had started playing as a defender. He explained to me that there was a lot of competition in midfield and that he would have a better chance of making a career playing behind, which would also allow him to better use his long game. He was already very mature," adds Larguet. Nayef begins to reveal his talent. In 2018, he won the CHAN at home with FUS Rabat.

His profile interests Dijon FCO, then in Ligue 1. "Aguerd was playing at FUS Rabat (Botola Pro, Moroccan Ligue 1), whose coach was Walid Regragui," says Sébastien Larcier, who was then in charge of the recruitment cell of the Burgundian club. "We used to follow the CHAN, and Loïc Chalier, one of our scouts, was attending the one in Morocco. He spotted Nayef, told me about him and I saw videos of this player. I called Walid, with whom I had played at DFCO, and he spoke very highly of Nayef, saying that not only was he a good player, with obviously room for improvement, but also a very good guy, intelligent, cultivated, nice, well-educated and hardworking. In short, he told me to go for it with my eyes closed," continues the former Dijon midfielder. FUS Rabat releases the native of Kénitra for a check of around 1.2 million euros. This is the beginning of his first adventure abroad, in Europe.

Endowed with a steely mentality, he had no trouble acclimating. "A left-handed central defender, tall (1.90 m), technically at ease, this is a sought-after profile. I saw the potential, but also the work that had to be done with him," says Olivier Dall’Oglio, then coach of DFCO. "Athletically, he needed to work, to do muscle strengthening. And he also tended to relaunch too much in the axis." After two years in Côte-d’Or, about thirty games, four goals and a good overall impression, both sportingly and humanly, the Atlas Lion joins the Rennes squad in August 2020 for 5 million euros, "when he was worth at least double that," notes Larcier, in a club with which he is about to play the Champions League.

Two years later, Stade Rennais sells him for 35 million euros to the Hammers of West Ham United. A very good financial transaction for the club. In England, his career will be disrupted due to injuries, including an ankle a few days after his arrival. "It’s true that he has regularly been subject to injuries," notes Dall’Oglio. But the experience is far from negative: he won the Europa Conference League in 2023. On loan, he will play for Real Sociedad from August 2024. He had some temporary physical problems, but the season is generally convincing.