West Ham are now said to be wary of Chelsea beating them to the signing of Mohammed Kudus from Ajax.
That is according to Alex Crook of talkSPORT.
So, what is the latest on Chelsea target Mohammed Kudus? Let’s take a look…
What’s the story?
Well, the east Londoners have already made two bids – which were both rejected.
Interestingly, West Ham’s second offer was worth £34m – a sum close to the £34.5m Brighton agreed with Ajax before Kudus himself failed to agree personal terms with the Seagulls.
That is mentioned by Crook in his report on the situation, and he adds that Ajax’s asking price now seems to have increased from that £34m range they were happy to accept.
Even if the fee has increased to around £40m or a bit more, Chelsea would presumably be interested after coming close to signing Michael Olise for a similar sum.
Chelsea could hijack West Ham talks for Mohammed Kudus
Crooks said: “It’s 50/50 at this moment in time. West Ham have had a second offer rejected. We know that face to face talks were held over the course of the weekend between West Ham and Ajax, £34m was their latest offer, which is about what Brighton were willing to pay, but Ajax’s asking price seems to have gone up since that move fell through.
“I think the suspicion on West Ham’s behalf is that Ajax and the player, maybe, are hoping that one of the big guns in the Premier League might try and sign him before the end of the window. Maybe Chelsea or Arsenal, a couple of teams to keep an eye on. I think the boy himself is not in a hurry to sign for another Premier League club.”
Going back to our earlier point on Olise, Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Chelsea’s priority right now is to find a similar player to the France Under-21 international, who can operate centrally or out wide.
Kudus ticks both of those boxes, so he could be the man Chelsea move for between now and transfer deadline day next Friday – be sure to keep an eye on the situation.
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