The 23-year-old offensive midfielder has now signed a five-year agreement with West Ham United for £38.2 million ($48 million), with an additional season’s option, from elite Dutch club Ajax. Additionally, the agreement includes a 10% sell-on provision for Ajax. West Ham wanted Kudus so much that the Amsterdam club turned down two of their proposals. The international player from Ghana might potentially make his debut on Friday against Luton Town.
Kudus joins Konstantinos Mavropanos, Edson Alvarez, James Ward-Prowse, and Konstantinos Mavropanos as West Ham’s fourth summer signings. He may have played for Brighton & Hove Albion tonight had a trade gone through; the club had an agreement in principle with Ajax earlier in the transfer season. Arsenal and Chelsea were also interested.
Alvarez is fully supportive of Kudos joining the Hammers-
Alvarez was the one who told Kudus to support West Ham. The defensive midfielder predicted the attacker would succeed at the London Stadium after their three seasons as teammates at Ajax. Kudus continued to play professionally during his three years in Amsterdam, and on Thursday, he scored three times as Ajax defeated Bulgaria’s Ludogorets 4-1 in the first leg of a Europa League qualification play-off match. He is qualified to play for West Ham in the competition’s group stage when it begins next month because that occurred during the qualifying stages.
After making his national team debut for Ghana in November 2019, Kudus has since earned 24 caps and has scored seven goals, notably two while beginning all three of his country’s games at the 2018 World Cup. Dramani, though, remembers the offensive midfielder being agitated before to that debut in a qualifier for the Africa Cup of Nations at home against South Africa.
Kudus’ ability was first refined at the Right To Dream programme in Ghana. As one of the academy’s most recognisable old boys, he first enrolled there as a young student.
Kudos’ connection with his mother-
Didi Dramani, who worked with him as a coach at Right To Dream, Nordsjaelland, and the Ghanaian national team, recalls their first meetings. He arrived from Strong Tower, a school team in the centre of Accra, when he was (age) 13, 14, adds Dramani. His family is large. He adores his mum dearly. He usually resided with his mother, grandmother, and uncle and didn’t spend much time with his father. Kudos brought his mother with him to Denmark, then he took her with him to Holland. He has both a brother and a sister. He values his family and his neighbourhood.
The manager of Ghana’s national team, Chris Hughton, a former manager of Newcastle United, Norwich City, and Brighton & Hove Albion, concurs.
Former Tottenham Hotspur and Republic of Ireland full-back Hughton said of Mohammed, “I’ve known Mohammed for more than a year, and he’s a fantastic player. He was raised well and has improved at Ajax over the past three years. You can see that Kudus has now taken that route if you consider what they’ve done for young players. He is a player that is still improving and is versatile“.
Pedersen thinks that Kudus’ rise to West Ham will serve as an example for other young, promising players at the Right To Dream programme and in Nordsjaelland. He hopes a certain prophesy comes true and anticipates seeing him succeed in the Premier League.
