Arsenal target is West Ham’s ‘priority’ option to replace £95m star who has ‘agreed’ Man City move
According to reports, West Ham United are plotting a move for Ajax standout Mohammed Kudus, who would replace Man City-linked Lucas Paqueta.
West Ham made a slow start to this summer on the transfer front but they have spent around £65m over the past couple of days to sign Edson Alvarez and James Ward-Prowse from Ajax and Southampton respectively.
The Hammers are also reportedly attempting to sign Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay and Anthony Martial from Manchester United.
The Premier League outfit sold Declan Rice to Arsenal earlier this summer and they could also lose Paqueta, who is being pursued by Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola’s side have reportedly made a £95m bid for the Brazil international after he shone for West Ham during his debut season in 2022/23.
Fabrizio Romano took to Twitter on Monday morning to claim that “Paqueta has reached an agreement on personal terms with City and wants the move”.
The transfer expert refutes claims that a new bid has been submitted by Man City, but they are “preparing a new offer”.
Regarding Kudus, Romano added: “West Ham now open initial talks to sign Mohammed Kudus — priority target in case Lucas Paqueta leaves to join Manchester City.
“Positive talks on player side, Kudus open to the move — still waiting to approach Ajax as deal will depend on Paqueta”.
Kudus has been heavily linked with Arsenal and Chelsea this summer and he could cost around €45m if recent reports are to be believed.
The 23-year-old grabbed 18 goals and seven assists for Ajax last season and he would be an astute signing for West Ham if Paqueta does move on.
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Ex-Premier League midfielder Danny Murphy thinks Paqueta should sign for Man City as this transfer “makes sense”.
“I think if you look at their three midfield positions at the moment, you’d say at the start of the season if he was picking his best team you’d have Rodri, [Mateo] Kovacic and [Kevin] De Bruyne,” Murphy said on talkSPORT.
“But you need more than three, obviously, Bernardo Silva can play in there if he stays but he generally played out right in the big games last season.
“Paqueta could play in the De Bruyne role, he’s obviously not in the same level as De Bruyne but he’s creative and he can play that. He can also play the Kovacic role where he’s a bit deeper because he plays there for Brazil.
“It makes sense to me. His last three months in a West Ham shirt were really good. I thought the fans were starting to see the real Paqueta then he had some terrific games near the end of the season.”
