It’s no secret that Mohammed Kudus is a wanted man.
The Ghanaian’s maiden season in England last term saw him register 20 goal contributions (14 goals, 6 assists) in 45 first team appearances, and his solo goal against Freiburg in the Europa League went on to be nominated for the Puskas Award.
It has led to reports that the likes of Arsenal, Newcastle and Liverpool have all been keeping very close tabs on the forward’s progress, with the Gunners in particular said to be lining up a bid to take him to the Emirates this January.
Should a bid come in for him, it will have to be a big one. That’s according to Claret & Hugh, who claim an insider at the top of the club has told them the club is looking for “at least £100m.”
If we were to more than double our money on him in 18 months, you’d have to respect the business and be relatively pleased about it. Especially given Kudus’ form this season – just two goals and two assists in 13 appearances so far.
He has been a shadow of his former self, showing glimpses of what we know he’s capable of, but no where near the levels we enjoyed so well last season.
Despite that, losing a player of his calibre midway through a season will be a tough pill to swallow. Indeed, we have Crysencio Summerville as a back up and he’s already shown that he can more than deputise for Kudus when called upon – it was perhaps unfair that Kudus came straight back into the team after his five game suspension, such was the impressiveness of Summerville’s performances.
The worrying line that followed that admission via Claret & Hugh came just a few hours later, as it was reported that the top club insider went on to say “we could do with a top-class centre-forward and need to raise funds.”
The first half of that statement is obvious. We all know we’re in desperate need of a top-class goalscorer. We have been for well over a decade, probably longer. That’s only been amplified by Michail Antonio’s road traffic accident, which has left him sidelined with a broken leg for at least the rest of this season.
But it’s the admission that we “need to raise funds” which alarms me the most. In this current climate, football clubs aren’t able to spend as freely as they used to or as they perhaps would like to. West Ham are no different and after spending close to £150m last summer, there was a general acceptance that the purse strings would be a little tighter this winter.
It’s more the fact that this indicates that the club are willing to entertain offers for its best players right at the time when we’re going to need them the most. We might be 14th in the Premier League table and struggling for form under Julen Lopetegui, but we’re still only six points off the top six with 22 games left to play. Our season can still be saved, but it will be made that so much harder to do if a player like Kudus is allowed to leave the club. Regardless of what transfer fee we get for him or how much profit we make.
Signing a striker in January should be the priority. Niclas Fullkrug is back to full fitness and looked a handful against Bournemouth on Monday night, but we cannot play out the rest of the season with him and Danny Ings as our only striker options. We need something more. Something different. Someone more mobile.
But if that comes at the expense of losing a player like Kudus, in form or not, it could spell something of a disaster for West Ham where this season is concerned.
When you consider West Ham’s track record of signing strikers, it also doesn’t fill you with much confidence that if we were to get £100m for Kudus, that it would be reinvested into the right striker. In truth, we’re absolutely woeful at signing strikers.
January is also a very difficult transfer window to sign players because clubs are less willing to sell their best players in the middle of a season. Understandably so. Unless they’re West Ham, which in that case means they make it public that one of their best players is up for sale. ‘Come and get him if you’ve got the money!’
It’s the general admission that he’s for sale at this stage of the season that concerns me. The thought of losing Kudus isn’t the concern. Players come and go and, let’s be frank, we knew within a few months of last season that he wouldn’t be around for long. On his day, the lad is world class.
It’s simply all about timing.
Once again with West Ham, it’s all wrong.
