It might be a little premature for West Ham fans to revel in their north London rival’s failure to make it through to the final of the Champions League. Arsenal came up short against PSG in a 3-1 aggregate loss last night and now head out of the competition with nothing. The Meme factory must have been working late into the night because there were a whole host of posts in my inbox this morning.
Before West Ham fans get too carried away by the spectacle, it might be worth remembering that Arsenal are reported to be linked with Mohammed Kudus: Whilst as West Ham fans we are more or less reconciled to Kudus leaving this summer, it would be another difficult pill to take should he end up rediscovering his greatness as a gooner.
Just last night the headline from eplindex.com “Arsenal Revive Interest in Kudus Amid Summer Rebuild Plans” suggested that ‘Starboy’ might not be Liverpool or Saudi bound. Arteta’s interest could actually do West Ham a favour, since Arsenal are baulking at the valuation: “Kudus has an £85m release clause in his contract, although it is unlikely Arsenal would be willing to pay that high a fee after an inconsistent campaign for the 24-year-old.”
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The more clubs involved in Kudus’ sale, the higher the bids go. So knowing that Arsenal are in the mix plays into Chairman David Sullivan’s hands and strengthens his negotiating position: Better three bidders than one. If Kudus has to go – then best that the buying club are squeezed til the pips squeak. Liverpool have been linked, as have Spurs and Al Nassr.
Hopefully the very public Premier League interest from Arsenal and others will just deliver the good news to West Ham’s shareholders as several bids appear in June and push up the final transfer fee from Al Nassr. We can but hope.