West Ham United winger Mohammed Kudus has admitted his focus is on the new season rather than transfer links with different clubs.
The Ghana international enjoyed an excellent first season at the London Stadium which reportedly attracted the interest of several Premier League giants including Liverpool and Manchester City [Caught Offside, 28 June].
While a release clause in the 23-year-old’s contract has now expired and a move seems to be off the cards, Kudus has insisted that he is just waiting to see how things will pan out in the future.
As quoted by The Athletic on Thursday (4 July) he said: “When you perform at those kinds of levels in a league like this, it’s normal to have rumours and hear about other clubs (being interested).
“But right now my focus is getting prepared for the new season and then we’ll see how everything goes.”
Will West Ham United sell Mohammed Kudus in the summer transfer window at the London Stadium?
While Kudus was never likely to push for a move away from West Ham in a high-profile interview, it is good to see that the links with some of Europe’s elite clubs have not distracted him ahead of the Premier League campaign.
As he suggests, this sort of transfer speculation is part and parcel of performing well at the highest level and it is no different to what Lucas Paqueta experienced before he was hit with charges by the FA earlier this year.
It almost feels inevitable that the Hammers won’t be able to keep the 23-year-old at the London Stadium for too long, but they are at least in a position where they will be able to pocket a big fee for his services if and when he does leave.
Hopefully, that won’t be for a couple more seasons at least as he has been a breath of fresh air in a claret and blue shirt. His pace and raw technical ability have made him so fun to watch and he will only get better as he gets older.
Supporters just have to hope that he maintains this excellent attitude for the remainder of the summer transfer window and beyond.
