CHELSEA failed with a £30million player-plus-cash bid to West Ham for Mohammed Kudus before he signed for Tottenham.
Kudus joined Spurs from West Ham in July and has shined since his switch to north London, conjuring up two assists on his Premier League debut for his new club on Saturday in a 3-0 win over Burnley.
Spurs head coach Thomas Frank has already labelled Kudus’ one-on-one skills and ability to create opportunities as ‘top-class’ following his arrival.
It has now emerged via The Sun that Chelsea saw a player-plus-cash bid for Kudus rejected by West Ham before he moved to Tottenham.
The Ghanaian international was high on Chelsea’s list and personal terms with the player had already been agreed.
Back in June, the 25-year-old had changed his agent in a bid to get his move after it became clear that both club and player would go their separate ways this summer.
Chelsea offered Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, whom they valued at around £30million, in addition to a proposed £20million fee for Kudus.
West Ham rejected the offer, valuing Dewsbury-Hall at £20m, which meant both clubs never came close to agreeing on a fee.
Sources say that personal terms with Kudus was never an issue as Chelsea were one of the clubs that had come close to bringing him to the Premier League in 2023 before he joined West Ham from Ajax.
Tottenham, however, came in with an immediate £50million offer to West Ham, who were able to drive up the price to £55m and agree a sale.
Both West Ham and Kudus solemnly accepted that it was best to part ways given the fee and fact that he was never going to get the chance to play on the right hand side of attack as that spot was reserved only for club captain Jarrod Bowen.
Chelsea would also eventually sell Dewsbury-Hall to Everton for a fee closer to their £30million valuation.
Kudus, 25, has had a stellar start to life as a Spurs player, providing two brilliant assists on his official debut to help Spurs to a 3-0 win against Burnley at the weekend.
If Chelsea had snapped up Kudus, that may have stopped them from pursuing Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho. So far, the 25-year-old has had a promising start to life at Spurs, something the Blues may look ruefully at. Incidentally, Dewsbury-Hall ended up joining Everton for approximately £25m ($33m) earlier this month.
Tottenham will hope Kudus continues his bright start to the season when Thomas Frank’s team travel to the Etihad to take on Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the second round of Premier League fixtures on Saturday.
Source: YEN.com.gh
Source: Yen.com.gh
