Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has paid the kind of respect to former club West Ham that Daniel Levy hasn’t as he commented on the Mohammed Kudus in a crushing blow to Spurs.
The Italian’s comments spell bad news for Tottenham, with Chelsea now firmly in the frame for West Ham’s PSR sacrificial lamb Mohammed Kudus – just as Hammers News reported this week.
After Millwall, it is Spurs and Chelsea who have always been West Ham’s biggest rivals.
So it says something when Hammers fans are desperate to see one of their best players join the Blues, just to avoid them going to Tottenham Hotspur.
West Ham supporters are incandescent Kudus might be sold to Spurs after the club confirmed they may have little choice but to break a 14-year unofficial transfer embargo if Daniel Levy is the only one to stump up the required cash.
Levy ‘up to old tricks’ in West Ham and Spurs talks over Kudus
Chelsea’s transfer dealings underline the fact PSR is a complete non-issue for Enzo Maresca.
West Ham fans are furious the owners have allowed them to be in such a poor state financially.
But they begrudgingly accept Kudus must be sold to raise funds for Graham Potter’s rebuild.
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The mere thought of selling one of the club’s top players to Tottenham has seen the West Ham board come under fire, though.
Especially since Fabrizio Romano claimed negotiations were now “well underway” between West Ham, Tottenham and Kudus about a move to north London.
The hope in east London has always been that Chelsea would pull the trigger on signing Kudus as the lesser of two evils.
Hammers News was the first to exclusively reveal Chelsea and West Ham discussed a possible deal for Kudus back at the start of June.
Now, after mulling things over for a month, it looks like a Chelsea insider’s major new Kudus claim earlier this week could come to fruition.
Because Maresca has paid West Ham the respect Levy hasn’t as he opens up on a Chelsea move for Kudus and it’s bad news for Spurs.
Maresca pays West Ham respect as he deals Spurs a Kudus blow
This week a close ally of West Ham chief David Sullivan confirmed there has been no formal approach or bid from Spurs for Kudus.
That infuriated Tottenham fans, who are already angry with Levy over the club’s failed pursuit of Antoine Semenyo and Eberechi Eze.
Sullivan’s confidant stated the Hammers have not given permission for Spurs to approach Kudus after the likes of Romano claimed talks have been held between them and the player’s agents.
And the key Sullivan source claimed ‘Levy is up to his old tricks by playing the Kudus deal out in the media’ using agents to get around rules over tapping up.
Now Maresca has shown the right way to do things as he all but confirmed Chelsea’s interest in signing Kudus with an intriguing comment.
Speaking to the press in the US overnight after Chelsea advanced to the semi-finals of the Club World Cup with a 2-1 win over Palmeiras, Maresca admitted Kudus is a player he has liked and followed for years.
The former Hammers assistant boss refused to discuss Chelsea’s move for Kudus in detail out of respect to his old club.
But the fact Maresca did not deny Chelsea are planning to sign Kudus is a sure sign that’s exactly what is about to transpire, leaving Spurs’ hopes in serious trouble.
Chelsea boss all but confirms interest in Hammers star Kudus
“Mohammed is a West Ham player,” Maresca said respectfully when asked about the Kudus links to Chelsea.
“He is not our player.
“I’ve known Kudus since he was at Ajax but he is a West Ham player.”
That line about ‘knowing Kudus since he was at Ajax’ says everything.
Kudus is clearly a player Maresca has a longstanding interest in given the Hammers signed the Ghanaian from the Dutch giants two years ago now.
West Ham will appreciate Maresca’s approach to the potential transfer in light of the revelations about how Levy is handling Tottenham’s attempts to sign Kudus.
Hammers fans will appreciate it even more if Todd Boehly pays the money to ensure Kudus ends up at Stamford Bridge instead of Spurs.