Tottenham Hotspur are closing in on a deal to sign Mohammed Kudus, and Rafael van der Vaart will love this move from his former club.
Van der Vaart will have closely followed the forward during his time at Ajax, and the Tottenham Hotspur legend has had plenty to say about him in the past.
Tottenham have agreed a £55m deal for Kudus, with the 24-year-old expected to undergo a medical at Hotspur Way on Thursday.
Gary Lineker has concerns about Kudus, but Van der Vaart’s comments from 2023 should reassure Spurs fans they’re signing a gem.
Rafael van der Vaart told Mohammed Kudus would become an £87m player
Speaking back in 2023, Rafael van der Vaart revealed that Ajax sporting director Marc Overmars told him Mohammed Kudus would become an £87m player in the future.
The former Tottenham player also explained how Overmars reckoned that the Ghanaian international was the best signing he’d ever made.
There was also the feeling that the attacker hadn’t quite shown his full potential at the time, but Van der Vaart claims he has all the attributes to become a top player.
Van der Vaart told Studio Voetbal via Voetbalzone: “I first saw Kudus during a friendly. He (Marc Overmars, Ajax’s sporting director) said: ‘Raf, honestly. This is my best signing ever. This is going to be worth a hundred million.’ He believed in him.
“He hasn’t shown it yet, of course, but he hasn’t really been deployed to his full potential. We only saw what he can do at the World Cup. He actually has everything a footballer needs in his position: strength, speed… He’s the very best player Ajax has.”
Ajax sold Kudus to West Ham for £40m in what was rather an impressive coup for the Hammers at the time.
Two years on, and the North London club have now paid £15m more to bring him across the capital to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Mohammed Kudus forced through Tottenham move
As TBR Football revealed, Kudus really wanted to join Tottenham and made a move to N17 his priority for the summer.
Bayern Munich expressed interest in Kudus, however, the player wanted to remain in the Premier League, with Chelsea and Arsenal having also shown an interest.
The Guardian now claim that Kudus handed in a transfer request, along with reporting for West Ham training late on two occasions this week.
The 24-year-old is now close to finally securing his wish of joining Spurs and the deal could be announced in the coming days.