West Ham’s grave Mohammed Kudus problem drags on – but there’s hope

Graham Potter recently lauded parts of Kudus’ game as ‘world class’.

“His potential is enormous, he’s an unbelievable talent, unbelievable potential,” the 49-year-old said of Kudus last month.

“His high-end actions are world-class, there’s no doubt.”

The problem for West Ham is those “high-end actions” which made Kudus such a devastating player in his debut season are now too few and far between.

Last season Kudus took the Premier League and Europe by storm, scoring 14 goals and laying on six assists for the Hammers.

It was the kind of form that made the £85m release clause in Kudus’ contract look cheap.

Kudus’ alarming drop-off

West Ham’s owners were even criticised for setting Kudus’ value so low.

But that clause was the key to the Hammers beating the likes of Brighton and others to the Ghanaians signature.

This season, though, that figure seems pie in the sky with Kudus having scored just three goals and recorded a solitary assist.

Kudus has cut a frustrated figure all season. Many put that down to the player not getting on with Julen Lopetegui, who played him out of position on the left.

The pair had a big bust-up at Brentford and Kudus showed public dissent towards Lopetegui when substituted on more than one occasion.

But things have not improved much for Kudus under Potter.

West Ham’s grave Kudus problem drags on

The 24-year-old looked more like his old self in the win at Arsenal, albeit without really looking like scoring.

However, he has been poor in the three games since.

Kudus admits he’s been nowhere near his best for West Ham this season.

The alarming drop off from Kudus this season has come at the worst possible time for the Hammers.

West Ham’s grave Kudus problem is dragging on – but there’s some hope.

The Hammers have been keen to make it clear to fans they are facing PSR issues restricting spending after a £155m splurge last summer.

It is no secret that West Ham have been planning to sell Kudus to help fund this summer’s latest overhaul.

Hammers planned to sell Kudus for £85m release clause

The player himself recently hinted he would be leaving, making a point of saying he’ll ‘continue to give his all for the rest of the season’.

The Hammers plan to raise £100m in sales this summer to help Potter and Kyle Macaulay make signings.

Last season Kudus, who cost the club £38.5m from Ajax, might have come close to raising that on his own after his stunning campaign, littered with amazing goals.

West Ham’s hierarchy know they will struggle to get anything close to Kudus’ £85m release clause now.

The club has been hoping Kudus might hit form under Potter and have an eye-catching end to the season.

With the March internationals being the last before the end of the season, the Hammers would clearly be hoping Kudus might raise his profile again by getting his name up in lights for Ghana.

Games against Chad and Madagascar certainly give the West Ham star the platform to do just that.

But Kudus’ woes in front of goal continued overnight.

Kudus woes continue but there’s hope for Hammers

Ghana smashed Chad 5-0, but Kudus did not even get his name on the scoresheet as he remains marooned on three goals for club and country since last May.

The West Ham man had chances but could not find the back of the net.

The likes of Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo and relegation-bound Jordan Ayew – a bench-warmer at Leicester – managed to get on the scoresheet, though.

So that doesn’t reflect well on Kudus.

The reality of the Kudus situation for West Ham is that the club will be lucky to get over £50m for him off the back of such a poor season.

Many may suspect he is suffering second season syndrome and has been “found out” since teams know all about him now.

But due to poor squad composition as a result of investment in players over 25, Kudus is still one of West Ham’s most saleable assets.

And given the club need to sell to buy, David Sullivan and co may be forced to take a much lower offer than they would even dreamed of this time last year.

Big end to season needed for West Ham to profit from Kudus

The likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Man City have all been linked previously.

Arne Slot has admitted he rates Kudus highly from facing him in Holland.

And Liverpool may soon need a replacement for Mohamed Salah.

But West Ham may be forced to take a big hit on what they expected to sell Kudus for.

It was not all doom and gloom for West Ham’s number 14 against Chad, though.

Ghana Web gave Kudus a 7/10 rating, stating: “Unlucky not to score a goal. The midfielder spurned two good chances to add to Ghana’s tally and break his goal-scoring drought. His trickery, however, caused problems for Chad.”

The Hammers will now have to hope he can end his barren run against Madagascar and get some confidence for the Premier League run-in.

Because West Ham’s crucial summer plans and future very much depend on it.