A journalist has revealed what Mohammed Kudus told her privately about what it means to him to be facing his former club West Ham with Tottenham Hotspur.
Mohammed Kudus is set to run the gauntlet when he takes on West Ham for the first time since his move to bitter Premier League rivals Spurs.
The Ghanaian will be thanking his lucky stars he is not returning to West Ham while they were still at Upton Park rather than the infinitely less intimidating London Stadium.
The Boleyn under the lights would have swallowed a player like Kudus whole.
Especially if they left to join Tottenham and went on to unashamedly profess their love for the north Londoners in the process.
There is a reason players do not move between West Ham and Spurs.
Kudus has infuriated West Ham fans with his Spurs goading
Not a single player had been traded between the rivals since January 2011 prior to Kudus joining Tottenham from West Ham for £54.5m in the summer.
West Ham’s board must take much of the blame for leaving the club in a position where they had to sell a top player to a club their supporters dislike more than any other besides Millwall.
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It is well publicised that Kudus wanted to join Liverpool, then Chelsea as it had long been clear he would be leaving a Hammers side pleading PSR poverty.
In the end only Spurs would cough up the money to make West Ham blink – and better still paid in three instalments rather than over the length of Kudus’ contract as is normal in most transfers.
But West Ham fans will not forget how Kudus has handled the move to north London.
Kudus has been branded ‘Judus’ – intentionally misspelt for the play on words – in light of his comments following the transfer.
An inflammatory unveiling saw Kudus declare he ‘only wanted Spurs’ when leaving the Hammers.
Kudus was also seen telling Tottenham’s doctor he would ‘find Spurs in there’ as he examined his heart during medical tests.
Hammers insiders previously claimed Kudus was persistently late to training during pre-season in order to force the move to Tottenham. Although that has been denied by the player’s camp ahead of his return to the London Stadium.
What Kudus told journalist about facing West Ham with Spurs
It is a ground Kudus lit up during his debut season and where he came up with his trademark celebration whereby he sits on the advertising hoardings or a stool.
The highlight was his Maradona-esque goal of the tournament in a Europa League win over Freiburg.
Now the Hammers will be hoping he hits a low point on his return to the stadium.
The old saying lower than a snake’s belly seems to be particularly apt given that is what West Ham fans have labelled Kudus.
But how does he feel about the return to the club which brought him to the Premier League stage?
A journalist has revealed what Kudus told her privately about facing West Ham with Spurs.
The Ghanaian forward’s candid admission offers an insight into what he really thinks about the Hammers.
And the answer appears to be very little judging by the conversation.
Speaking to Tottenham boss Thomas Frank in his pre-West Ham press conference, Vaishali Bhardwaj lifted the lid on her exchange with Kudus ahead of the game.
Kudus makes it clear West Ham are insignificant to him
“I asked him before the international break about this game,” Bhardwaj said.
“And he said ‘Look it’s just another game for me’.”
It seems West Ham are already so utterly insignificant to Kudus they are just any other game to the ex Ajax star.
If Kudus wasn’t assured of a white-hot reception before, he certainly is now.
Frank conceded Kudus is ‘probably aware of the extra noise’ around his return to West Ham and quipped ‘You don’t think they’ll applaud him?”