Mo Kudus is certainly everybody’s favourite player (except his manager Julen Lopetegui who thinks he’s perhaps a tad too sure of himself).
When he found himself at Ghana’s Right to Dream Academy in his early teens, his natural ability and dedication to football was profound, and he was penciled for success early by his handlers.
Going through the mill successfully at the famed farm, he was snapped up by Nordsjaelland in the 2018 winter transfer window and brought to Denmark to play in the harsh Danish winter.
Making his debut just a few days after his eighteenth birthday connoisseurs knew he was a real gem. He was made for great things.
And he has never looked back.
Dreams come true, but the most important thing is to fulfill them.
And so far, so good.
The fastidious Ghana international has exhibited to the world what he does best while making a name for himself (and earning loads of cash to help out back at home at one of Accra’s biggest slums).
When Erik ten Hag brought him to the Dutch capital in the summer of 2020 for a princely sum of 9 million euros, it was hailed as brilliant as the preeminent Dutch club is perhaps the most famed club for developing budding talents in the European game.
What Louis Van Gaal did with Clarence Seedorf, Edgar Davids, Patrick Kluivert and the Nigerian trio of Nwankwo Kanu, Finidi George and Tijani Babangida in 1995 is still etched in the collective memory of the gods of the beautiful game (and most importantly their celebrants).
To have been given the chance to don that notorious red and white jersey of the Netherlands’ most celebrated club is something Kudus should always be grateful to the introverted but influential ten Hag for.
Sadly, he has complained bitterly at how the former Manchester United gaffer snubbed him for his teammate Antony, lamenting how pained he still is that EtH didn’t consider him good enough to play at Old Trafford (via Manchester Evening News).
Erik ten Hag, being an introvert, is likely to be misunderstood by the world as introverts are a notoriously hard nut to crack.
Which extrovert, in his right mind, would get on the wrong side of Christiano Ronaldo if he were in his team?
As soon as he fell out with the Portuguese superstar, the writing was on the wall.
Three stellar seasons in the Dutch capital had David Moyes swooning, and Kudus was promptly put on a plane to London to begin the most thrilling chapter of his career at West Ham for a princely sum of 38 million pounds.
The most important dream in the bag, he repaid Moyes faith in him by scoring 18 goals in his first season, his trademark celebration perched atop the billboards making him an iconic figure in the Premier League (he calls it the Landlord Pose).
And he upgraded that celebration in this season’s game against Brighton, sitting on a traditional Ghanaian stool to share the culture of his homeland with the world.
In the beginning of his career at the City of London Stadium he faced stiff competition from Jared Bowen, who was often preferred ahead of him by the David Moyes.
Yet he still scored 18 goals, won one goal of the month award, and his goal against SC Freiburg in the Europa League this season is being mooted for the goal of the season award.
His red card against Tottenham in which he petulantly pushed two Spurs players after he had earned a yellow card for a foul on one, saw him banned for five games and is quite a blotch on his Hammers record, which had been excellent going into that game.
Moyes replacement Julen Lopetegui has failed to bring the best out of him, preferring to play him out of position. Yet he has dignified the Spaniard with 3 goals this season.
A Ghana international since 2019, he famously became one of a few Africans to score two goals in a world cup game when his two strikes led to that hard-fought win in Ghana’s second game at the 2022 World Cup against the South Koreans.
The Arsenal rumours have made him unsettled somewhat with Mikel Arteta ready to trigger his 85 million pounds’ release clause to bring him to the Emirates.
He has an unhappy working relationship with Lopetegui, and would gladly leave this January transfer window for a chance to play Champions League football once again.
To say Mohammed Kudus has lighted up the Premier League with his flamboyance is an understatement, as he is probably the most ebullient character in the whole of England.
By Eric Boakye Antwi
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Eric Boakye Antwi is a tech/social entrepreneur (Ababunu Venture Fund/Incubator/Accelerator, investor in the agricultural value chain (Ababunu Investments), Film producer/actor(Hyper Films), journalist, poet, novelist and technology buff.
