How Mohammed Kudus compares to Tottenham's current attackers ahead of £55m West Ham transfer

The first marquee arrival of the Thomas Frank era at Tottenham Hotspur should be announced imminently, as Mohammed Kudus will soon complete his £55m switch from West Ham United to the Europa League champions.

The two capital counterparts are understood to have agreed on a fee for the Ghana international on Wednesday after the player made it clear that he only had eyes for Tottenham, also turning down interest from Chelsea in the process.

Such is Kudus's versatility that the ex-Ajax man could operate anywhere across the frontline - even as an auxiliary number nine - but a role in Dominic Solanke's supporting cast is more likely.

The 24-year-old could potentially inherit Son Heung-min's left-wing spot, compete with Brennan Johnson for starts on the right, or rival James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski for the right to act as Spurs' most advanced midfielder.

With all that in mind, Sports Mole takes a deeper dive into how Kudus statistically compares to Johnson, Kulusevski, Son and Maddison, using data from FBref from the 2024-25 Premier League season.

Kudus comparison: Goalscoring/shooting

First and foremost, all of Kudus, Maddison, Son, Johnson and Kulusevski made between 30 and 33 Premier League appearances last season, although the former played the most minutes with 2,590 and Maddison the fewest with 1,809.

However, the man who spent the most amount of time on the field found the back of the net the fewest times, as Kudus managed just five Premier League goals in the 2024-25 season, down from eight in the 2023-24 campaign.

Johnson leads the way in this five-strong list with 11 strikes, while Maddison managed nine, Kulusevski seven and Son seven for a Spurs side who had no problems creating and finishing chances, but it was a different story entirely at the other end of the pitch.

Kudus's quintet of strikes came from 75 shots last term - none of the Spurs quartet had more attempts in the league - and he only found the target with 21 of those efforts, a shots to shots-on-target ratio of 28%.

That percentage is the worst of its kind on this list - Son and Maddison are joint first with 43.6% each - and the latter pair's ratios are even more impressive considering their shots were the furthest distance from goal on average.

While Kudus is more than happy to let fly and can produce a spectacular or two from time to time - see Manchester City on the final day of the 2023-24 season - improving the Ghanaian's ruthlessness in front of goal should be a priority on Frank's agenda.

Kudus comparison: Assisting/playmaking

The face-value numbers do Kudus little good here either, as the 24-year-old set up just three goals in the 2024-25 Premier League season, having previously registered nine assists in the 2023-24 campaign.

Meanwhile, Son led the way with nine helpers in the top flight, while Maddison set up seven goals, Kulusevski four and Johnson just three alongside his soon-to-be teammate - although individual assist numbers also say a lot about the quality of a side's overall finishing.

While Kudus only managed a trio of assists, the £55m man sits third in the list for shot-creating actions with 107 to his name - even more than Maddison - and his 10 goal-creating actions also trump Kulusevski's nine.

However, Maddison still has the edge when it comes to shot-creating actions per 90 minutes with an average of 4.73, while Kudus sits second-last in that category with 3.72 per 90, only above Johnson's 1.9.

Unsurprisingly, a greater proportion of Kudus's SCAs and GCAs than the Tottenham quartet came from shots; 12 of his efforts led to another attempt, while three of them preceded a goalscoring strike.

Also ranking lower than Maddison, Son and Kulusevski for progressive passes and key passes, Kudus should leave the bulk of the playmaking to one of Spurs' designated number 10s while he attempts to wreak havoc with the ball at his feet.

Kudus comparison: Passing/possession

Kudus may not match up to some of his soon-to-be Spurs colleagues in pure goals and assists, but there is one area where the former Ajax man sits head and shoulders above the rest - unless your name is Jeremy Doku.

Indeed, the 24-year-old completed a staggering 92 successful take-ons from 208 attempts in the 2024-25 Premier League season, by far and away the most in this comparison and the second-most in the top flight behind the Manchester City winger's 107.

All together, Kulusevski, Son, Johnson and Maddison 119 successful take-ons between them, and Kudus also boasts the highest success rate out of the five with 44.2%, despite more attempts naturally also leading to more failures.

Kudus will evidently bring a new dimension to Tottenham's attack in that regard, but he is not as extraordinary a ball carrier; his 98 progressive carries in the 2024-25 Premier League is some way behind Kulusevski's 120, while Son's 44 carries into the penalty area slightly trumps the Ghanaian's 42.

Furthermore, Kudus was dispossessed on more occasions than any of the Tottenham four, losing the ball 93 times in such scenarios, which do not include attempted take-ons either; for comparison, Johnson was dispossessed on just 17 occasions.

However, Kudus can also help Spurs retain possession through winning free kicks, having drawn 64 fouls in the league in 2024-25, level with Maddison at the top of this five-man column.

The African's overall passing success rate of 83.6% is the best out of the five, although he did attempt the second-fewest passes with 855; Maddison, meanwhile, tops the charts with 1,256.

Nevertheless, the 24-year-old is adept at picking out a teammate from a distance; he also leads the way in completed passes between 15 and 30 yards with an 88.9% success rate, as well as an unrivalled 68.2% success rate for long passes travelling 30 yards or more.

The latter category is boosted by Kudus's 13 switches of play - Kulusevski, Maddison, Son and Johnson registered just 11 between them - and such numbers suggest that Kudus's assist statistics will almost certainly be on the rise from next season.

Kudus comparison: Defensive actions

This category will certainly not make or break Kudus's transfer to Tottenham, but for what it is worth, the former Ajax playmaker won a respectable 23 tackles from 38 attempts in last season's top flight, the joint-second most on this list behind Johnson's 26.

However, Kudus also made two mistakes that directly led to an opponent's shot in the 2024-25 Premier League; Maddison, Son and Kulusevski each made one such error, while Johnson was not guilty of any.

The Ghanaian was also the only one to be sent off in last season's top division - seeing red for his violent outburst against none other than Spurs - although he was only booked twice, the second-fewest on the list above Son's solitary yellow card.

That is in spite of Kudus committing the second-most fouls out of the five - bringing down an opponent 39 times - and his 21.6% aerial duel win rate puts him bottom of that list too.

Then again, the 5ft 10in attacker did attempt significantly more battles off the ground than the rest - contesting 51 and losing 40 of them - while none of the other four competed in more than 27 aerial duels.

Kudus also recovered more loose balls than Son, Maddison, Kulusevski and Johnson with 138, and with the necessary tweaks to his attacking game, Spurs will have a very exciting and unique talent on their hands.