West Ham may have been stung by Mohammed Kudus’ move to Tottenham, but they’ve hit back in style by pulling off a stunning move for El Hadji Malick Diouf.
When West Ham controversially sold Mohammed Kudus to Tottenham Hotspur he was the first player to move between the bitter rivals for more than 14 years.
Hammers fans were furious with David Sullivan and co for selling to Spurs.
Even if supporters had long since made peace with the fact Kudus needed to be moved on to raise funds for Graham Potter.
Within moments of the deal being officially announced by Tottenham, West Ham fans were regretting the club’s decision.
Spurs waste little time goading West Ham over Kudus
Spurs goaded the Hammers over the deal, using the line ‘He only wanted Spurs’ to unveil the Ghanaian.
It was even Kudus’ first words in an announcement video, rubbing salt in the wound.
West Ham fans were quick to point out that Kudus “only wanted Spurs” after first choice Liverpool, second preference Arsenal and fellow London rivals Chelsea showed no interest in signing him – even at the discounted £54.5m rate.
MORE WEST HAM STORIES
Capable of the explosive and spectacular and one of Europe’s best dribblers, there’s no doubting Kudus can be a top player on his day.
Last season those days were not often enough – and were usually reserved for shop window games away at the Premier League’s traditional “top sides”.
Pushing to join a rival like Tottenham from West Ham shows Kudus had a complete lack of awareness – and frankly clearly doesn’t care – what fans think.
As the dust settled, Kudus – who has been nicknamed ‘Kudus the Judas’ – eventually sent a short message to the Hammers, which rang pretty hollow.
The 24-year-old even turned off comments on some of his social media because he knew what was coming.
“Pleasure to be a Hammer running life’s Marathon,” Kudus said.
“Thank you for the warm seat through it all.
“Best wishes for the season and the future.”
Kudus’ farewell message to West Ham rings hollow
As well as Tottenham and Kudus, Spurs’ fans have been goading West Ham too.
With money in the bank, though, West Ham have finally acted to start their Potter rebuild.
And West Ham have had the last laugh on Spurs over Kudus after sealing a deal for fellow African El Hadji Malick Diouf.
Kudus may be an exciting player on his day, but he’s a bad teammate.
He was branded selfish by both Michail Antonio and Julen Lopetegui and was reportedly part of a problem with bad team spirit at West Ham over the last 18 months.
In forcing a move to a fierce local rival, Kudus refused to take part in contact training and reportedly arrived late several times too.
Potter’s first order of business once Kudus was out of the door was to move for Slavia Prague left wingback Diouf.
The 20-year-old was one of the star players when Senegal beat England 3-1 last month.
He completely pocketed Bukayo Saka and produced some brilliant bursting runs and crosses down the left in a display full of pace, power and trickery.
One look at Diouf’s stats shows West Ham have pulled off a bit of a masterclass with the Kudus deal which has paid for his arrival.
West Ham have last laugh on Spurs over Kudus after Diouf deal
Because the Hammers have signed a left wingback with the same number of assists and goals as Kudus for nearly a third of the price.
West Ham will pay an initial £19.5m for Diouf, who registered a superb seven goals and three assists last term compared to £54.5m Kudus’ paltry five goals and three assists for an attacking player of his supposed pedigree.
Better still it seems Diouf will be a major upgrade on Kudus in terms of character.
Footage showed a huge outpouring of emotion as Diouf said goodbye to Slavia on Sunday.
From management to players and fans, the 20-year-old’s send-off spoke volumes.
It shows the huge impact Diouf has made at the club in just over a year, on and off the pitch.
West Ham may well have had the last laugh on Spurs with the Kudus deal.