Mohammed Kudus Next Club Odds: After West Ham

West Ham fans are largely resigned to the fact they will be losing Mohammed Kudus this summer. It will stick in their craw if he follows the path formerly trodden by their captain Declan Rice, though. Right now, the bookies have Arsenal as the most likely destination for the Ghanaian international too.

Rice and Kudus never actually played together at West Ham, with Kudus arriving six weeks after Rice joined Arsenal, but soon the duo could be lining up together. Aside from lacking an out-and-out striker, squad depth has really hurt Mikel Arteta’s side this season; that has been particularly true in those positions behind the striker. From a positional sense, Kudus covers all of that ground such is his versatility.

On top of that, not only is Kudus already proven in the Premier League but he is also going to be available for a fee that isn’t completely outrageous; that’s hugely relevant given Arsenal’s number one priority being a striker.

Throw in recent news suggesting fellow Ghanian Thomas Partey is likely to stay at the Emirates and Kudus will have a compatriot to reach out to for any doubts too.

With European teams finding it challenging to make huge investments owing to PSR, the Saudi Pro League is posing more of a threat to talents in their prime. Kudus could be one of the next to go if you believe reports. Al Nassr, who look increasingly likely to lose Cristiano Ronaldo, are said to be willing to throw down a big transfer fee. That will be backed up by significant wages too. 

Given Kudus’ age of just 24, you might hope he’d be keen to stay at a more competitive level. However, with the number of elite players now playing their trade in Saudi, there is less of a knock on to players where international recognition and reputational damage is concerned. As such, it’s hard to say “never” when you consider the money involved.

Liverpool are long-time admirers of Kudus. Arne Slot will know him well from his time in the Eredivisie and the club considered shelling out £85m for him last summer. With West Ham believed to want less than that now, you can easily add two and two to create a link.

A year is a long time in football though; Liverpool have won the league and extended Mo Salah’s contract since last year. Kudus won’t want to play second fiddle. 

Whilst stylistically you can make a strong case for Kudus fitting in at Liverpool, it feels like Luis Diaz would have to leave first. That could happen with Barcelona heavily rumoured, but with the Reds also having other priorities in the transfer market, it feels like there are a lot of things that need to align for this to become a reality. 

Atletico Madrid are said to be targeting some headline-making signings over the course of the summer after penning a lucrative sponsorship deal with Visit Rwanda. Kudus is one player the Spanish side are said to be interested in. 

Atleti fell some way short of Barca and Real in La Liga this season, with a big part of that being having a significant drop off from their leading stars - Julian Alvarez, Antoine Griezmann and Alexander Sorloth - to the next best in their ranks where goal involvements are concerned.

Kudus would enhance the options Diego Simeone has to call on in the final third but it is not known whether La Liga is on Kudus’ career “to-do list”.