Nayef Aguerd says he was emotional making his West Ham United debut against Silkeborg last month after recovering from an ankle injury.
The summer signing, who is currently away with Morocco at the World Cup in Qatar, joined from French side Rennes in June but was then ruled out of action after injuring himself during a pre-season friendly against Rangers.
Aguerd spent three months on the sidelines, opting to have surgery on his ankle to speed up his recovery and ensure he could be back playing in time for the World Cup.
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"I had two choices," he told the West Ham website. "To either keep my body healing alone or to do a surgery as quick as possible because the World Cup was coming and to come back quicker on the pitch.
"I had a call with James Carlo, one of the best surgeons in the world. He told me he had a lot of cases like mine and I chose to do the surgery."
Aguerd eventually made his competitive West Ham debut on October 27 in a Europa Conference League game against Silkeborg at the London Stadium, which the Hammers won 1-0.
The Moroccan lined up in a five-man defence alongside Angelo Ogbonna and Ben Johnson, helping them keep their first clean sheet at home in Europe since their Europa League Round of 16 win over Sevilla in March last season.
"I had a very honest conversation [with David Moyes] before," added Aguerd. "I told him: 'If I feel pain, I'll tell you but if I feel ready, I want to play'. When I saw I was starting, I was very happy. Not nervous, just happy."
He added: “I was both a new signing and also coming back from injury. I was very emotional. I just wanted to show what I can do. Those 60 minutes were enough for me to feel great on the pitch with my teammates and with the fans. It was very good."
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