There are times when West Ham fans may catch the sight of one of their finest former players in action for capital rivals and hear a chant about getting him half price. It involves an element of exaggeration: Declan Rice commanded a British record fee of £105m and even a brace of superlative free kicks against Real Madrid do not make him worth £210m.
And yet there could be a sequel of sorts, Hammers supporters casting more envious glances at another favourite found elsewhere in London. And if, as seems likely, Mohammed Kudus joins Tottenham for £55m, there may be greater reasons to think West Ham have sold him on the cheap. Certainly in the context of the Ghanaian’s talent and his outstanding, 14-goal debut campaign in England, if not the underwhelming, five-goal sophomore season.
But the fee is £30m below Kudus’ release clause and there have been moments, with an ability to spin or glide away from defenders, to finish clinically or spectacularly, when that £85m has looked a realistic valuation.
A transfer may prove a coup for Tottenham. It already looks a failure from West Ham. From Graham Potter, who got just two goals and two assists from such a gifted player in 18 appearances and who did not seem to have a gameplan to get the best from him, just as Julen Lopetegui did not either.
But, in a wider sense, from the club as a whole. Kudus was bought with some of the funds from Rice’s sale: it was supposed to shape their future, protect them from seeing their prized assets picked off, provide a springboard. And, given Rice’s status as a player who cost them nothing, put them in a wonderful position in terms of PSR.
Instead, West Ham contrived to spend around £250m in two years. Yet, somehow, they only had a squad with three players who could have been auctioned to underwrite their latest recruitment drive. One of those, Lucas Paqueta, is unsellable because of the betting charges levelled against him. Another, Jarrod Bowen, is the captain and constant. That left Kudus, and he is leaving.
West Ham should wonder how they burned their way through a quarter of a billion and what they got in return. Niclas Fullkrug is the German cult hero but an injury-prone thirty-something who made just six league starts. That was five more than Luis Guilherme, the attempt to unearth a Brazilian prodigy. Crysensio Summerville, the best player in the Championship, was a forgettable one in the Premier League. Max Kilman was overpriced at £40m. Guido Rodriguez and Carlos Soler did not cost fees but were undistinguished.
Of the 2023 buys, Edson Alvarez has a dreadful disciplinary record. James Ward-Prowse is a solid citizen but in his thirties. Konstantinos Mavropanos appears on his way out. Kalvin Phillips’ loan worked out terribly for all concerned. Kudus apart, only Aaron Wan-Bissaka ranks as a success.
It points to a lack of joined-up thinking, a case study in bad decision-making; Tim Steidten, the director of football who seemed to specialise in falling out with his managers, was not the driving force in every signing but leaves an awful legacy.
Lopetegui, supposedly the more attacking antidote to David Moyes, somehow instead managed to be a less charismatic Manuel Pellegrini; he was still more miscast as a West Ham manager. Then there is Potter, who deserves a chance to implement his own ideas but whose reign has produced just 20 points from 18 games; despite away wins over Arsenal and Manchester United, there was precious little cause for optimism.
David Moyes left them in ninth and, a year ago, West Ham may have thought that, as they spent heavily, a repeat would be underwhelming. Instead, they came 14th, their dismal form camouflaged by Manchester United and Tottenham’s. Now there may be few tipping them for ninth.
Their failure is all the more egregious as West Ham seemed to have gambled on short-term success; at times exacerbated by their choice of arrivals, they have had the second oldest team in the division in each of the last two seasons. Kudus, at 24, was one of the younger players.
Now the passing of time was a reason West Ham probably needed to sell someone. The ageing quartet of Lukasz Fabianski, Vladimir Coufal, Aaron Cresswell and Danny Ings have been released while West Ham have delayed a decision on the 35-year-old Michail Antonio.
Some, at least, may require replacing. So far, however, the only buy has been the pre-arranged deal to convert Jean-Clair Todibo’s loan into a permanent deal.
A club who had bought too many players have now acquired too few. There are gaps in the squad. There will be one fewer match-winner and West Ham only won two league matches last season without any of Kudus, Paqueta or Bowen scoring.
Perhaps there was never a sense of permanence to Kudus’ time at West Ham, but his sale underlines how badly their expensive plans have gone awry and how the risk is that it could go still worse.