As the transfer deadline draws ever closer and the daily flurry of signings becomes ever more frenzied, we take a look at a tantalising talent from the Eredivisie who appears set for a massive move to the Premier League.
Mohammed Kudus is without doubt the most successful graduate of the renowned Right to Dream Academy. Based in Ghana, the academy identifies, trains and develops promising young footballers from West Africa.
This is where Kudus got his early football education after joining them at the age of 12.
He continued to show promise and was one of the players who progressed through to partner club FC Nordsjaelland, joining the Danish side in January 2018.
The club instantly provided him with plenty of first-team minutes which were crucial for his rapid development. He repaid that trust by having a stellar second season, scoring 11 Superliga goals.
Elegance from Mohammed Kudus 💫 pic.twitter.com/rhTFe2SKqn
— AFC Ajax (@AFCAjax) May 22, 2023
Dutch giants Ajax are well known for scouting young and promising talents from all over the world and were quick to pick up on these performances. In the summer of 2020, the Ghanaian moved to Amsterdam for €9 million.
Kudus initially struggled to make an impact at the Johan Cruyff Arena, and his versatility proved to be a disadvantage as he was mostly used as a utility player who plugged gaps in different positions.
However, at the end of the 2021/22 season, when Ajax lost high-profile attacking players such as Antony and Sébastian Haller, Kudus was asked to step up. And step up he did - scoring 18 goals and providing 7 assists. Those numbers included 6 goal contributions in the Champions League.
He topped this off with impressive performances at the Qatar World Cup, truly announcing himself to the world.
Mohammed Kudus Transfer Value - how much is he worth?
According to our Expected Transfer Value (xTV) model, Kudus is currently valued at €12.8 million. That value is much lower than the reported €40 million fee Brighton have reportedly agreed with Ajax.
This is primarily because Kudus is still relatively inexperienced at the highest level. But as is the case with transfer fees paid for exceptional young talents, teams are investing in future potential rather than results so far.
With only two years left to run on his current contract, a move away seems like the best solution for all parties and there are plenty of big clubs circling around the talented attacker. Brighton have registered the most concrete interest but the player is reported to be waiting for an offer from Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund.
Mohammed Kudus stats, strengths and weaknesses
Kudus is one of those rare players who looks comfortable everywhere on the pitch.
This might be down to the positional intelligence he was able to develop by playing in almost every midfield and attacking role at FC Nordsjaelland. In the most recent 2022/23 season, the 23-year-old mostly played as a centre-forward or on the right wing.
Kudus provides a huge goalscoring threat for his side. He has an incredible xG of 1.02 per90 when playing as a striker, much higher than the comparatively modest 0.31 per90 as a winger.
Elsewhere, Kudus attempts almost 12 dribbles per90 as a winger compared to just over 5 as a CF. This drop is possibly down to the extra space he gets out wide compared to the centre.
Kudus 😵💫 pic.twitter.com/WJKmz5Fqmn
— Marc Geschwind (@MarcGeschwind) August 12, 2023
The left-footed attacker also has better output on the wing in terms of chance creation, with an Expected Assist (xA) figure of 0.18 - almost double what it is when he plays as a striker. That is still not very high compared to the top creative players in the league, especially his xA of only 0.03 per90 from crosses.
But this can be overlooked when you look at how efficient he is at progressing the ball higher up the pitch with his dribbling. It’s not just the volume that is impressive, but he carries the ball in mostly crowded central areas, using his blistering turn of pace and low centre of gravity to drive at the opposition.
Kudus is also a highly technical player, who is clean in possession as shown by a 85.5% pass completion rate which puts him in 98th percentile amongst his positional peers.
Add to this his elite pressing and interested clubs will be getting an exciting player who can provide great value to the team in a variety of ways.
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