West Ham United transfer boost as Brighton pull out of race to sign Mohammed Kudus
Brighton have pulled out of the race to sign Ajax midfielder Mohammed Kudus handing West Ham United a clear path to seal their perfect Lucas Paqueta replacement.
According to TalkSPORT journalist Alex Crook, taking to his personal Twitter account (14 August), Kudus is now a target for the East Londoners after Brighton pulled out of the race a week ago.
Italian transfer guru Fabrizio Romano reported on Monday that the Irons had opened talks with the Ghanaian international about joining this summer as they see him as a Paqueta replacement.
The reliable transfer journalist wrote on his personal Twitter account (14 August) that the Hammers have held “positive talks” with the Ghana international about a move to the London Stadium.
This news comes after Premier League rivals Brighton made Kudus their top target this summer as they look to move past the loss of Moises Caicedo who looks set to join Chelsea.
Reports previously suggested that Brighton were set to sign Kudus, but negotiations over his contract hit a wall as Ajax imposed a deadline for a decision to be made [SussexWorld, 10 August].
And now, it’s been reported that the Seagulls pulled out of the race a week ago, handing the Hammers a real boost in their pursuit of the exceptionally gifted attacking midfielder.
With Paqueta looking increasingly likely to leave the London Stadium this summer, with Premier League champions Manchester City preparing a whopping new bid for his services, boss David Moyes desperately needs to sort out a replacement with the Brazilian expected to undertake a crucial role at the London Stadium in the wake of Declan Rice’s departure.
However, it is believed that the Hammers are targeting Kudus regardless of whether Paqueta leaves the club or not and after completing deals for Edson Alvarez and James Ward-Prowse, West Ham United now have another clear path to seal another tremendous midfield transfer.
Kudus over the past two campaigns 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.
Kudus’ desire to join the club is the perfect encouragement for West Ham United to push even further for his signature but the news that Brighton have pulled out of the race means the Irons could well be favourites to seal yet another impressive business.
In other West Ham news, one Premier League club want to hand their new manager with his first transfer as Aaron Cresswell and Michail Antonio close in on East London exits.