West Ham forward Mohammed Kudus did everything in his power to force through a move to Tottenham, according to reports.
It was confirmed on Wednesday that the Hammers had accepted a fee of £54.5m from Spurs, but insider source Claret & Hugh claim the decision was not taken lightly.
They report that Kudus “submitted a transfer request” to make it crystal clear to his club that he was keen on joining Thomas Frank’s team.
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It is believed that when other teams, such as Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal, opted against making their own bids, the player became dead set on getting his move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Kudus wanted to stay in the Premier League
Saudi Pro League clubs are said to have made offers for the Ghanaian international earlier in the summer, but the winger was keen on staying in Europe.
With Spurs the only credible bidders, the Irons had to make a decision. If they didn’t accept their London rival’s second bid, they would have risked keeping an unhappy player with no obvious alternative exit route.
It is debatable whether that explanation will be believed by the majority of supporters who had previously been told that the club had set an asking price of £65m.
West Ham have promised to reinvest all of the proceeds
The board will reportedly make all of the funds from Kudus’s sale available to head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay and head coach Graham Potter.
It does appear as if at least £17m will be devoted to signing a new left-back: Slavia Prague’s El Hadji Malick Diouf. Two bids have already been rejected for the Senegalese international but a third proposal is expected to be lodged over the coming days.
In other news, Sunderland have joined the race to sign an out-of-favour West Ham centre-back