West Ham United ace Mohammed Kudus sent ‘time will come’ message after latest setback
Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu has backed Mohammed Kudus to bounce back after the West Ham United ace was overlooked for the African Player of the Year award.
The 24-year-old was left out of the Confederation of African Football’s 10-man shortlist for the award to Badu’s surprise.
However, the former Ghana international midfielder is confident that Kudus will eventually be named the best player in Africa and advised the West Ham star to stay focused amid his latest setback.
“I was hoping he [Kudus] would make the shortlist, but there were also many outstanding players who did exceptional work in Africa last year”, Badu told Flashscore (28 October).
“He’s still young and has plenty of opportunities to be crowned Africa’s best. He just needs to stay focused, keep learning, and continue growing. His time will come – it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
Badu also lauded Kudus’ decision to join West Ham before tipping him to learn from his red-card incident against Tottenham on 19 October.
“That’s my star player. He’s incredibly talented and exudes confidence, which I really admire. At such a young age, he has the potential to develop into an even better player”, the Ghanaian said.
“Mistakes are a natural part of football, and he just needs encouragement and support. I truly believe he will become one of the greatest players to emerge from Africa.
“His transition from Ajax to West Ham was impressive; his first year was fantastic, and he performed exceptionally well. He chose a club that wouldn’t place excessive pressure on him and matched his level of play. I believe he made an excellent decision.
“This year, he started off strong, but unfortunately, emotions got the better of him, resulting in a red card [against Tottenham].
“Being young, he will learn from this experience and improve. Gradually, we will see him progress and potentially join some of the greatest clubs in the world.”
West Ham United star Mohammed Kudus going through rough spell
Kudus has had a tough time with both club and country of late, with last week’s African Player of the Year snub being his latest setback.
This came after he received a red card for hitting out at Micky van de Ven and Pape Matar Sarr in West Ham’s 4-1 league loss to Tottenham on 19 October.
The former Ajax star reportedly faces the threat of facing further punishments on top of the automatic three-game suspension for violent conduct.
His performances for West Ham and Ghana in recent months have also left a lot to be desired. The forward has scored just two goals for the Irons in 10 games across all competitions this season.
He also came in for a lot of criticism after Ghana failed to win both of their games against minnows Sudan in the group stage of the AFCON qualifiers during the international break earlier this month.
Therefore, it will be interesting to see how Kudus responds to all this when he returns to action after his three-game ban.
In other West Ham news, the Irons might have to scrap plans to sign this player after what his head coach said.
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