West Ham could be ready to sanction a second controversial transfer by selling a star hot on the heels of Mohammed Kudus joining bitter rivals Spurs.
To rub salt in the wound of a woeful summer transfer window so far, West Ham had been pinning their hopes on the player in question stepping up to fill the void that will be left by Mohammed Kudus as he moves to Tottenham Hotspur.
The Hammers have agreed to sell Kudus to Tottenham – their fiercest rivals behind Millwall – for just £54.5m.
That represents a meagre £16m profit on the £38.5m the Irons paid Ajax for the Ghanaian two years ago.
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has also embarrassed West Ham by getting Kudus for £10m less than the £65m asking price David Sullivan was refusing to budge from – and a full £30m less than the player’s utterly meaningless “release clause”.
Hammers fans console themselves over Kudus sale to Spurs
Hammers fans must now suffer the merciless goading of their Tottenham counterparts with fears Kudus will explode back into life in north London.
As they prepare for the inevitability of Spurs fans telling them the four-letter reason Kudus left them when the two sides meet just weeks into the new season, many West Ham supporters have been desperately trying to find positives.
Some Irons fans have been trying to console themselves that they have two players ready to step up and fill his boots.
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Except now West Ham could sell Kudus’ heir hot on heels of the controversial Spurs deal.
Crysencio Summerville was one of the few signings who actually excited West Ham fans and looked value for money last summer.
Mohammed Kudus celebrates with Crysencio Summerville after scoring for West Ham
Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images
The Hammers paid £26m to bring the flying Dutchman in from Leeds – who are now back in the Premier League and spending big.
Summerville picked up an injury 45 minutes into Graham Potter’s first game in charge of West Ham back in January.
It sums up West Ham’s rotten luck that an injury initially deemed ‘nothing too serious’ by Potter has kept Summerville out ever since.
In fact the 23-year-old is not expected to be anywhere close to a first team return until after the September international break.
Now West Ham could sell Kudus’ heir hot on heels of Spurs deal
That leaves West Ham pinning all their hopes on the man signed to ultimately be Kudus’ heir stepping up to the plate.
The Hammers have been preparing for the sale of Kudus for the best part of a year.
Not being in Europe has not helped West Ham’s chances of keeping hold of the Black Stars ace.
Part of those preparations was the signing of Luis Guilherme from Palmeiras for £20m.
The thinking behind the deal was that Guilherme, a raw teenage talent who had only made 19 appearances in Brazilian football – mostly as a sub – would have a season to bed in before eventually succeeding Kudus.
Speculation has swirled since January that West Ham are open to offers to ‘cut their losses’ on Guilherme.
Luis Guilherme replaces Mohammed Kudus for West Ham
Photo by Kevin Hodgson | MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Brazilian club make offer to ‘bring Guilherme home’
But many supporters have been encouraged by Guilherme’s cameos under Potter.
The manager seems to rate the pacy star, who was a lot more involved under him than predecessor Julen Lopetegui.
But now, hot on the heels of controversially selling Kudus to Tottenham, West Ham could give up on Guilherme after just one season with a club wanting to ‘bring him home’ to Brazil.
That’s according to Brazilian site Globo, which reports that Botafogo – owned by John Textor – have made a bid for Guilherme that’s likely to be accepted by the Hammers.
Although the report claims Guilherme’s initial thoughts are that he wants to try and make a go of it in Europe, Botafogo are not closing the door on a deal.
“Having been monitored for months, Botafogo launched an inquiry into Luis Guilherme during the special window for the Club World Cup last month,” Globo reports.
“A few days ago, they formalised their interest in the striker. The club considers the deal difficult due to the player’s desires, but is not closing the deal.”
West Ham are already an ageing, slow and immobile team.
Selling two of the youngest, quickest players in the squad will only make that worse.
If the Hammers sanction the Guilherme deal then David Sullivan will be under enormous pressure to get the players in that Potter wants after he declared his desire to rebuild the West Ham team around young, athletic, dynamic stars.