MOHAMMED
KUDUS

The deal was negotiated through a release-clause-style provision in his West Ham contract that activated once a Premier League rival made a written offer above the £55m threshold. Tottenham triggered it within 48 hours of pre-season returning, beating reported interest from Newcastle United and Chelsea. Kudus signed his contract at Hotspur Way and posed in a number 20 shirt that day, with the club's English-language statement framing him as an attacking midfielder who can also play through the middle or off the right.

Pre-season detail and early-season performance suggested Tottenham's manager intends to use him as the floating ten between an out-and-out striker and a more defensive double pivot. He recorded two assists on his Premier League debut on 16 August 2025 and added two goals across his first 19 league appearances before the January 2026 thigh injury that ended his run.

His exit from West Ham was bittersweet for the East London club. Kudus arrived from Ajax in 2023 for £38m and over two seasons logged 81 senior appearances with 14 goals and seven assists; his peak was a Champions League goal-of-the-tournament contender against Freiburg in 2023-24. Buyback clauses in the West Ham agreement have been publicly denied by both sides; Tottenham hold full economic rights.

The match was played in Accra under Otto Addo, Kudus's coach for the qualifying campaign. With qualification mathematically still on the line, Kudus drove inside from the left around the 35th minute, opened his body and finished low across the keeper, the Black Stars' fifth straight clean sheet in the qualifying group. Final result 1-0; Ghana finished Group I unbeaten.

The draw at the December 2025 FIFA Final Draw placed Ghana in Group L of the World Cup, alongside Croatia, England and Panama. Ghana open against Panama on 17 June 2026, face England on 23 June, and finish against Croatia on 27 June. The Black Stars are making their fifth World Cup appearance, their first since the 2022 Qatar group-stage exit.

Carlos Queiroz was unveiled as head coach on 14 April 2026 on a four-month contract worth a reported $100,000 per month, taking over from Otto Addo for the World Cup itself. Queiroz's brief is to reach the quarter-final, with an automatic extension clause if he does. Kudus is expected to start in the team's senior creative role with Thomas Partey alongside in midfield.

Ghana's failure to qualify for AFCON 2025 in Morocco — finishing bottom of their qualifying group, the Black Stars' first AFCON absence since 2004 — was the lowest competitive moment of Kudus's international career. Otto Addo, who replaced Chris Hughton during the failed campaign, was retained for the World Cup qualifiers and delivered the Group I title that took Ghana to 2026.

Kudus has been used in a hybrid role at international level, often as the right-sided number 10 in a 4-2-3-1 with licence to drift inside and combine with Thomas Partey or Mohammed Salisu. He scored Ghana's late winner against Madagascar in the September 2025 qualifying round and was Group I joint top scorer alongside teammate Antoine Semenyo with 4 goals.

Captaincy of the Black Stars currently sits with Jordan Ayew per the Wikipedia squad listing. Kudus has worn the armband on multiple occasions when Ayew was rested, and football media in Ghana have widely treated him as the on-pitch leader of the new generation. Whether Queiroz formalises that arrangement before the World Cup will be one of the talking points of the May 2026 friendlies.

Tottenham use him primarily as a number 10 with permission to roam right. The first-touch repertoire (half-turn under contact, push-pull dribble around the standing leg, outside-of-the-foot pass into the channel) is what separates him from the Premier League's other top-bracket young creators. Heat maps from his West Ham seasons and his first 19 Spurs appearances show a sharp asymmetry into the right half-space, even when notionally the central ten.

His off-the-shoulder run is the goal-source pattern. The Comoros goal in October 2025 came from exactly this movement, beat the high line, open body, finish across the keeper. The 2023-24 Champions League goal against Freiburg used the same kit. Right-foot finishes inside the box account for slightly less than a third of his career club goals; the rest come on the left.

Pressing intensity has improved at Spurs but remains the trait coaches want him to extend. Otto Addo and now Queiroz at Ghana have both given him licence to drop and play between the centre-backs in possession; out of possession he is asked to mark a holding midfielder zonally rather than chase the full-back.