West Ham ‘bid rejected’ for £34m Chelsea, Brighton target as ex-Arsenal man flies in to join Hammers | OneFootball

Mohammed Kudus with Steven Berghuis after a win.

West Ham United have had a bid for Ghanaian attacker Mohammed Kudus rejected by Ajax, according to reports.

Kudus has been linked with a host of Premier League clubs this summer.

Brighton reportedly had a bid in the region of €40million (£34.2m) accepted by Ajax but talks over a deal fell through.

The 23-year-old scored 18 goals and made seven assists in 42 appearances across all competitions last season and has also been linked with Arsenal and Chelsea.

After talks over a move to Brighton failed to advance, West Ham have jumped to the front of the queue and have seen an opening bid rejected by Ajax.

This is according to The Athletic correspondent David Ornstein, who did not specify how much the Hammers put on the table, though it is fair to assume it was not in the region of £34.2m after Ajax accepted that amount when Brighton made an offer.

Where the situation will now go is ‘unclear’ with Ajax eager to keep hold of Kudus ‘after a series of departures’ this summer.

Ornstein adds that the Ghanaian international rejected a one-year contract extension in April. His current deal expires in 2025.

West Ham are clearly eager to sign someone who can operate in attacking midfield and Kudus is a player adept at playing in the No. 10, as a false-nine or a winger on either flank.

Clearly in the market for a central defender as well, Ornstein says Stuttgart’s Konstantinos Mavropanos will travel to London ‘in the next 24 hours’ to complete a transfer to the Premier League club.

German journalist Florian Plettenberg provided more information on the deal, telling his Twitter followers that West Ham will pay a ‘guaranteed’ €20m (£17.1) plus €5m (£4.2m) in ‘possible add-ons’.

Plettenberg says Mavropanos has ‘always wanted to play in the Premier League’ and is very close to joining David Moyes’ side.

The Greek defender did play for Arsenal between 2018 and 2022, making a grand total of eight first-team appearances.

He spent two years on loan at Stuttgart before making the transfer permanent in the summer of 2022 for around £2.5m.

Reports suggest Arsenal included a 10 per cent sell-on clause in their deal to sell Mavropanos to the Bundesliga outfit, who absolutely fleeced the Gunners.

Fabrizio Romano also provided an update on the Greek’s potential move to the London Stadium.

He confirmed the transfer is worth a potential €25m and is “here we go” with medical tests booked.

Furthermore, is now “definitely off”.