Liverpool are known to admire West Ham forward Mohammed Kudus and may be telling that Arne Slot praised a player who has a release clause this summer.
Kudus was name-checked by both Slot and Virgil van Dijk after playing a big part in West Ham‘s fightback at Anfield on Sunday.
“I can name you one or two players that could easily have played with us today,” Slot told his post-match press conference, with Kudus and Lucas Paqueta in mind.
The head coach labelled the Ghanaian “almost uncontrollable” in his interview with Sky Sports while, speaking to BBC Sport, Van Dijk said: “I think Paqueta and Kudus were making a lot of good things happen for them.
“They had a bit of a free role, so it’s quite difficult to mark. So you have to also give credit to them…we all saw when they played Arsenal away, that they can hurt opponents.”
Any move for Paqueta, who turns 28 in August and is facing a lengthy ban after an FA charge over betting offences, can be ruled out.
But the same cannot be said for Kudus, who is known to have been on Liverpool’s radar for a number of years and, according to the Mail‘s Dominic King, has made a “big impression” on the squad in the past.
In a post on X, King wrote: “He’s been making a big impression on Liverpool’s squad for a long, long time. The dressing room was raving about his quality after Ajax played at Anfield in September 2022 and he scored.”
Liverpool were linked with Kudus in late 2022 and then again last summer, and with an overhaul of Slot’s attack expected in the next transfer window it would be no surprise if they held an interest this time around.
Kudus has a release clause
According to The Athletic, the 24-year-old will be available to Premier League clubs this summer for a fee of £85 million due to a release clause in his contract.
Whether that would appeal to Liverpool is doubtful, of course, as that would match the club-record outlay for Darwin Nunez in 2022 – and, with Nunez set to be sold this summer, the risks of such a spend are laid clear.
However it does not rule out any negotiation with West Ham who, though in a strong position as Kudus is contracted to 2028 with an option to extend by a further 12 months, may come under pressure to sell due to their league finish.
Kudus only enhanced his reputation with another positive showing in defeat to Liverpool on Sunday, and prominent praise of West Ham‘s No. 14 – capable of playing in every role across the attack – should not go unnoticed.
