Fabrizio Romano has hinted that Chelsea could have the opportunity to beat rivals West Ham United to the transfer of Ajax attacking midfielder Mohammed Kudus.
Writing in his exclusive CaughtOffside column, Romano explained the latest on Kudus’ future, with Ajax rejecting West Ham’s latest bid for the Ghana international as they feel other big clubs could join the race late on in this summer’s transfer window.
Kudus has impressed in his time at Ajax and it’s not too surprising to hear that the Dutch giants’ preference is to keep the player, though it seems they also sense an opportunity to make big money from his sale.
Chelsea look like thy could be one of the teams to watch in this transfer saga, while Romano also mentioned Arsenal and suggested that there are a number of top clubs in Europe keen on signing a player in that position.
Kudus, 23, looks an ideal option for Chelsea, who are also interested in Lyon wonderkid Bradley Barcola.
“Despite rumours in the last few days about Brennan Johnson and Chelsea, from what I understand he’s not a priority target for the Blues. There are no concrete negotiations with Nottingham Forest at this stage, and although things can change in the final days of the transfer window, at the moment Chelsea are not considering Johnson as a priority target for that position,” Romano explained.
“However, that position, a creative player, a winger, is a priority for Chelsea. They are looking for that kind of player and one of the names they requested information on in terms of how much the deal would cost is Bradley Barcola.
“Chelsea have an interest in this fantastic talent from Lyon, but for the moment the player is giving his priority to Paris Saint-Germain. In June, when the player changed agents to be represented by Jorge Mendes, personal terms with PSG got to a very advanced stage. Barcola said yes to PSG and so the clubs started to negotiate.
“However, from what I understand now, PSG are very nervous about the situation. They’re not happy at all, it’s a very tense situation, and they feel it could be the end of this story if Lyon don’t change their position.
“PSG aren’t happy because they feel Lyon keep on changing their asking price – one day it’s one number, another day another number. The player wants to go to PSG but Lyon are making it very difficult, and so between the clubs it’s complicated and one to follow because it could present an opportunity for other clubs like Chelsea to join the race.
“Keep an eye as well on Mohammed Kudus – West Ham had a new bid rejected yesterday by Ajax. The bid was €42m, add-ons included, but Ajax said no. The strange thing is that this bid was bigger than the one they received from Brighton, which they accepted, so the deal was in place but didn’t happen because of the player.
“Now, West Ham are offering more but it’s been rejected. Why? Ajax hope to keep Kudus for one more season or at least until January, this is their biggest hope.
“But also, Ajax feel that in the final days of the window, some very big club could enter the race and offer big money for Kudus. They know there are clubs looking for that kind of player, they believe there could be more clubs in the market for Kudus, and this is why Ajax are not accepting €42m from West Ham. Let’s see what happens next – West Ham will now discuss internally whether they want to bid again or leave the table.
“As for other clubs, let’s see what happens with Chelsea, who asked about Kudus in July. Keep an eye as well on Brighton to see if they try again, and Arsenal could also be one to watch because they called in June to ask about Kudus, but then they invested big money on the likes of Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice instead.
“Never say never, and that’s why Ajax are currently deciding not to accept proposals.”