Anthony Onifade

Wed 20 September 2023 10:10, UK

David Moyes could be set to make wholesale changes to his West Ham United side for their opening Europa League clash with Backa Topola and there may not be a better opportunity to hand Mohammed Kudus his first start.

The Ghana international joined the Hammers ranks from Ajax this summer for a reported fee of £38 million [Sky Sports] but has so far only been confined to short cameo roles from the bench, the latest the 3-1 defeat to Manchester City on Saturday.

The former Ajax maestro was in fine during the international break, scoring twice in two matches which may indicate that he is certainly ready for his first long-awaited Hammers start.

However, Moyes’ steady selection calls so far are perfectly understandable with the club not wanting to place too much pressure on Kudus to be an instant success at East Londoners. Every new addition takes time.

Former Eurosport journalist Dean Jones stated as much suggesting that West Ham United will afford Mohammed Kudus time to adapt to the Premier League.

Speaking to Give Me Sport on Thursday (14 September) Jones said: “If he can get into double digits for West Ham I think that should probably be the aim, but I also think his expectation should be tempered in the early weeks. I think that it’s going to take him a little bit of time to settle.

“They don’t want everybody to think he’s like a magician who can just come in and do all sorts of crazy stuff and score hat-tricks every week, They’ve got a variety of different roles that they think he might be capable of playing, and there’s going to be a little bit of trial and error I think in the first few weeks.”

West Ham have had previous experience of players coming to the Premier League with plenty of expectation and then failing to live up to them, Gianluca Scamacca being the most recent example of somebody who never hit the heights that were anticipated when he joined.

Also, Moyes’ reliable attacking quartet of Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta, Michail Antonio and Said Benrahma have all started the campaign in great shape which means Kudus will have had to wait for his opportunity.

However, Thursday’s clash with Backa Topola presents the perfect chance opportunity for Moyes to take the Kudus risk. The 23-year-old is an established worldwide footballer, as we’ve seen over his last two campaigns at Ajax and for his country.

Over the past two campaigns, he has emerged as one of Europe’s finest young midfielders due to his performances both at club level and on the international stage, starring for Ghana in December’s World Cup in Qatar.

The 23-year-old recorded 25 goal involvements in 42 appearances. His rank within the best 3% outside of Europe’s top five leagues among his positional peers for non-penalty goals per 90, non-penalty xG per 90, and successful take-ons per 90 demonstrate that he is ready to elevate his career by moving to a competitive division, and the Premier League certainly represents the perfect step up for him.

Arguably his most attractive trait for potential suitors is his impressive versatility – as revealed by The Athletic in their series of profiling 50 exciting players under the age of 25 – Kudus has accumulated 2,272 minutes since the start of the 2021/22 season, playing 22% of the time as a striker, 40% as a right-winger and 35% in midfield roles, giving Moyes a superb secret weapon to unleash this season.

Starting him on Thursday’s Europa League opener may be a risk, but given Kudus’ unique and destructive individual qualities, it’s one worth taking especially on home turn in front of a rapturous support. What has Moyes got to lose?

In other West Ham news, the East Londoners may well have found their next Declan Rice in one burgeoning Belgian talent, an ambitious bid could be on the cards in January.