Michail Antonio ‘desperate’ to leave West Ham United as £44m-rated Mohammed Kudus deal lined up in his place
Michail Antonio is “desperate” to leave West Ham this summer and Mohammed Kudus looks to be the man lined up to take his place at striker, according to Graeme Bailey.
The 90min journalist said on the Talking Transfers podcast on 18 August that with Gianluca Scamacca gone and veteran Hammers favourite Antonio, 33, apparently dead set on following the versatile Ajax star is being targeted for use up front.
The Ghanian international, 23, can play in a variety of positions and the Eredivisie side want as much as £44million for him [Guardian, 18 August], but after links to Brighton it could now be a one-in, one-out move at the London Stadium.
Bailey said (38.45s): “It’s our understanding that he might be used as a centre-forward at West Ham, which might explain why West Ham not Brighton. Would he play as a centre-forward at Brighton? Probably not…
“At West Ham there’s a clear path to playing that role there. Scamacca’s gone, Antonio is desperate to go, we know that…
“I think there is that role from him to play as an Antonio replacement up there… I think that’s a great [move]”
Turnover
With all the incoming business at West Ham condensed into the final few weeks of the window the club are facing a situation where as fast as they line up new arrivals more gaps potentially need filling.
It took the club far too long to populate the space left after Declan Rice’s move to Arsenal but that key task has been completed with the deals for Edson Alvarez and James Ward-Prowse.
It looked like Lucas Paqueta was going to depart and need replacing as well until the betting investigation from the FA emerged to seemingly end his prospects of a move to Manchester City, but Scamacca has already left the striking options looking light.
In that regard it makes sense that West Ham are pushing ahead with a move for Kudus independent of the Paqueta developments, although he is arguably a player that would be worth signing even if nobody had left this summer.
Whether there is time to let Antonio leave still and bring in a second replacement is up for debate, with only Danny Ings and youngster Divin Mubama available otherwise.
Kudus can play up top but he isn’t an obvious number nine, so a specialist option might still be required and perhaps explains the push for Elye Wahi that has now fallen short.
Antonio himself only became a striker later in his career so perhaps Kudus could be his heir apparent, but there is little time to get so many moves done in so it will be a tight squeeze.
In other West Ham news, Dharmesh Sheth has shared a medical update as another Hammers signing jets in to join the club.
