West Ham appear to be playing hardball. No real surprise there but with the summer rebuild dependent upon funds, you’d be forgiven for thinking a more conciliatory negotiating stance might be the order of the day. Not so – [West Ham](https://www.claretandhugh.info/west-ham-transfers-clock-ticking-on-chelseas-kudus-bid/) appear to be sticking to their £85 million Kudus price tag whilst the clock ticks down for Chelsea.
Time is ticking by on two fronts. Not only ahead of the cut-off date for registration for FIFA’s CWC tournament – June 10th – but also ahead of Mohammed Kudus’ release clause activation on 1st July.
_“Chelsea Eye £85m Deal as West Ham Stand Firm on Key Player”_ Reports [_eplindex.co.uk_](https://eplindex.com/131824/report-chelsea-eye-85m-deal-as-west-ham-stand-firm-on-key-player.html) this morning. Whilst West Ham have had ‘discussions” regarding including players to make up the balance, the report confirms that:
_“No official bid has been made, Chelsea was informed during informal talks that acquiring Kudus would not come cheap, with West Ham indicating that his release clause, priced at €100 million (£85m), is set to become active for Premier League clubs in the first 10 days of July.”_
The Hammers must be mighty confident of finding a buyer elsewhere in order to stick to their guns. Failing that, sales of fringe players must be in the pipeline to provide a transfer budget: **Nayef Aguerd** appears most likely to be first out of the door.
With player signings now stacking up – as the Hammers are linked with talent such as **Raphael Onyedika, Lucas Stassin** and **Baris Alper Yilmaz** – without the funds to push ahead they risk losing out to competitors on all of their top targets.
Hardball – but high risk.