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Ghanaian footballer (born 2000) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mohammed Kudus (born 2 August 2000) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a right winger for Premier League club West Ham United and the Ghana national team. He has previously played for Nordsjælland and Ajax.
|
Kudus warming up for West Ham United in 2024 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mohammed Kudus[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 2 August 2000[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Nima, Ghana | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Attacking midfielder, Right winger | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | West Ham United | ||
| Number | 14 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Strong Tower FC | |||
| 2010–2018 | Right to Dream | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2018–2020 | Nordsjælland | 51 | (14) |
| 2020–2023 | Ajax | 65 | (17) |
| 2023– | West Ham United | 41 | (10) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2017 | Ghana U17 | 4 | (1) |
| 2018–2019 | Ghana U20 | 3 | (0) |
| 2019– | Ghana | 38 | (11) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:09, 19 October 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15:05, 15 October 2024 (UTC) | |||
In January 2018, Kudus arrived at Danish club Nordsjælland from the Ghanaian Right to Dream Academy together with two teammates, Ibrahim Sadiq and Gideon Mensah.[2]
Kudus made his official debut for Nordsjælland only three days after his 18th birthday, in a 2–0 defeat against Brøndby IF. He played from the first minute as a striker, but was replaced at half-time. With his debut, Kudus became the ninth youngest player to debut for the club.[3]
On 16 July 2020, Kudus signed for Eredivisie club Ajax for €9 million, on a five-year contract. He made his official debut for the club on 20 September in a league match against RKC Waalwijk. Head coach Erik ten Hag subsequently called Kudus as a player with "incredible potential".[4][5] He continued his strong performances, scoring one goal and providing three assists in his first three appearances.[6] He debuted in the UEFA Champions League for the home match against Liverpool on 21 October 2020, though was substituted out after only six minutes as he suffered a meniscus injury,[7] keeping him out for several months.[8] He returned from injury in January 2021, enjoying a 10-minutes in a 2–2 draw against PSV. He suffered a setback in his recovery and missed the rest of the matches in January before returning to action in February.[9] On 21 February 2021, he returned to Ajax’s starting eleven for the first time since October 2020, and scored a goal in the 50th minute of a 4–0 win over Sparta Rotterdam.[10][11]
After his return from injury, Kudus played in 13 of Ajax's final 14 league games, as well as 31 minutes of their KNVB Cup semi-final match against Heerenveen as Ajax clinched the domestic double at the end of his first season.[12][13] He won his first career trophy, the 2020–21 KNVB Cup on 18 April 2021, after David Neres scored in additional time to secure a 2–1 victory over Vitesse.[14] At the end of the season, Kudus made 22 appearances in all competitions for Ajax, scoring four goals and registering three assists.[9]
On 25 July 2021, Ajax announced during pre-season that Kudus had suffered an ankle injury and was training separately from the rest of the team ahead of the 2021–22 season.[15] He made his return from injury on 21 September, coming on at half-time to score the fourth of Ajax's 5 goals' triumph over Fortuna Sittard.[16][17] Kudus suffered an injury while playing for Ghana in November 2021, sidelining him for three months.[18] His first match back from injury was on 14 February 2022 against Twente, where he replaced Steven Berghuis for the final four minutes of their 5–0 victory.[19]
Whilst recovering from his injures and restricted from first team appearances, Kudus played four matches and scored four goals for Jong Ajax in the Eerste Divisie, including a hat-trick against ADO Den Haag.[20]
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On 17 April, he came on in the 86th minute for Davy Klaassen in the 2022 KNVB Cup final, which Ajax lost 2–1 to PSV.[21][22] Upon his return, he played in 11 out of 13 league matches, but only started in two of them as Ajax won the 2021–22 Eredivisie.
On 7 September 2022, Kudus scored his first Champions League goal in a 4–0 win over Rangers.[23] On 19 February 2023, he scored from a free-kick in the 84th minute of a league match against Sparta Rotterdam to earn Ajax a 4–0 victory. He celebrated by paying tribute to fellow Ghanaian footballer, Christian Atsu, who died in the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake. He ran to the sideline and removed his Ajax shirt to display a white shirt underneath that read, "RIP Atsu."[24] He scored 18 goals in 42 appearances with six assists in the 2022–23 season.[25]
Kudus started the season on 12 August with a goal in the 75th minute in Ajax's 4–1 opening-day win against Heracles.[26] On 24 August, he scored a hat-trick in his last game for Ajax in a 2023–24 Europa League play-off first-leg qualifier against Ludogorets in Bulgaria as Ajax won 4–1.[27]
On 27 August 2023, Kudus signed for Premier League club West Ham United on a five-year contract for an undisclosed fee,[28] which was reported to be €44.5m (£38m) plus add-ons.[29] He also became the third Ghanaian player to play for West Ham following John Paintsil and André Ayew[30][31] and the second most expensive Ghanaian footballer of all-time behind Thomas Partey.[32]
He made his debut on 1 September in a 2–1 away win against Luton Town, coming on in the 91st minute.[33] He scored his first goals for the club in a group stage game of the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League on 21 September at home, netting a brace against Serbian side Bačka Topola in a 3–1 win.[34][35] On 9 October, Kudus scored his first Premier League goal against Newcastle United in the 89th minute to tie the game 2–2.[36] His scissor kick goal against Brentford in November 2023 was voted West Ham's Goal of the Month for November.[37][38][39]
On 14 March 2024, Kudus scored a goal described as a "goal of the season contender" by former West Ham midfielder Joe Cole, in which Kudus picked up the ball in his own half and dribbled past three defenders before finishing past Noah Atubolu to score West Ham's fourth goal in a 5–0 win against German side SC Freiburg in the UEFA Europa League round of 16.[40] After scoring in a 4–3 away defeat by Newcastle United on 30 March, Kudus became the top scoring Ghanaian for the club with 13 goals, surpassing André Ayew's record of 12 goals.[41] He finished his debut season as the player with most successful dribbles in the Premier League with 124 dribbles.[42]
Since 2019, he has been a part of the Ghana national team and scored several goals. On 14 November 2021, Kudus sustained a ruptured rib injury whilst playing for the Black Stars in their final 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier Group match against South Africa.[43] This injury kept him out for almost three months including missing the delayed 2021 African Cup of Nations despite being named in the final squad list for the competition.[44][45] Kudus made a return into the squad to play for Ghana in their final 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification playoff against Nigeria.[46] He played in both matches as Ghana qualified for their fourth World Cup tournament.[47][48]
In November 2022, Kudus was called up to the 26-man Ghana squad that would compete in Qatar for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[49] In his World Cup debut, Ghana faced Portugal in a 3–2 defeat.[50] The following match, Kudus scored twice in a 3–2 win over South Korea.[51][52] Ghana required a win or draw in their final group match against Uruguay to advance. However, they lost 2–0, sending Ghana home after finishing fourth place in their group.[53][54]
In January 2024, Kudus was named in the 27-man squad for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.[55] After a 2–1 loss to Cape Verde in their opening match,[56] Ghana faced Egypt in the following match, where he scored a brace in a 2–2 draw.[57] In their final group stage match against Mozambique, Kudus managed to win a penalty for his team, which was converted by Jordan Ayew. Despite being two goals up, Mozambique managed to tie the game with two late goals, and with group rivals Egypt scoring a late goal to draw 2–2 against already-qualified Cape Verde, both Ghana and Mozambique were eliminated from the tournament, and Egypt advanced to the knockout stages.[58]
Kudus hails from Nima in Accra, Ghana, and is a Muslim.[59] He has two brothers in Accra.[31]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[lower-alpha 1] | League cup[lower-alpha 2] | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Nordsjælland | 2018–19 | Danish Superliga | 26 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | 2[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | — | 30 | 3 | ||
| 2019–20 | Danish Superliga | 25 | 11 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 27 | 11 | ||||
| Total | 51 | 14 | 4 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | — | 57 | 14 | ||||
| Ajax | 2020–21 | Eredivisie | 17 | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | 4[lower-alpha 4] | 0 | — | 22 | 4 | ||
| 2021–22 | Eredivisie | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 2[lower-alpha 5] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 | ||
| 2022–23 | Eredivisie | 30 | 11 | 3 | 1 | — | 8[lower-alpha 6] | 5 | 1[lower-alpha 7] | 1 | 42 | 18 | ||
| 2023–24 | Eredivisie | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 1[lower-alpha 3] | 3 | — | 3 | 4 | |||
| Total | 65 | 17 | 6 | 1 | — | 15 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 87 | 27 | |||
| West Ham United | 2023–24 | Premier League | 33 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9[lower-alpha 3] | 5 | — | 45 | 14 | |
| 2024–25 | Premier League | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 2 | |||
| Total | 41 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 5 | — | 55 | 16 | |||
| Career total | 157 | 41 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 26 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 199 | 57 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ghana | 2019 | 2 | 1 |
| 2021 | 8 | 2 | |
| 2022 | 11 | 4 | |
| 2023 | 9 | 2 | |
| 2024 | 8 | 2 | |
| Total | 38 | 11 | |
Ajax[62]
Individual
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