The reasoning for Chelsea's interest in Ajax star Mohammed Kudus

 

It seems a matter of 'when' rather than 'if' Mohammed Kudus moves to the Premier League. Brighton have been credited in an interest, while Arsenal are believed to be monitoring the Ajax star. Chelsea have since made their move for the Ghana sensation with the race to sign Kudus really starting to hot up. 

 

A high level of interest in the 22-year-old shouldn't really come as a surpise. Despite Ajax's disappointing campaign, Kudus was a star performer for the Dutch powerhouse. A WhoScored rating of 7.29 was the 14th best in the Dutch top tier last term. Excluding sub appearances - 11 of Kudus' 30 outings were from the bench - and that shoots up to 7.68. 

 

A respectable return of 11 goals and three assists has served to boost his profile, which proved vital owing to previous injury issues that restricted his game time. While he is contracted at Ajax until 2025, Kudus' decision to reject a contract extension has left the Dutch outfit with a decision on their hands. They've already lost star man Dusan Tadic to Fenerbahce, and would be reluctant to see another attacking outlet depart this summer. 

 

And yet they will be aware that Kudus' stock is already high, so can capitalise on the back of a fine campaign to maximise his value. Kudus may not be the midfielder Chelsea need right now, but if he is available, then the Blues could certainly utilise a player with his skillset. 

 

Much of that is due to the fact Kudus can play a number of roles, and do so to a high standard. Primarily a right winger, the youngster can also operate in the midfield or up front. He won't be the defensive shield to operate alongside Enzo Fernandez at the base of Mauricio Pochettino's favoured 4-2-3-1 setup, with the west London side still working on a deal to sign Moises Caicedo from Brighton to play that role, but Kudus would offer attacking thrust from the middle of the park. 

 

Kudus completed more dribbles (91) than any other player in the Eredivisie last season, this despite playing just 1796 of a possible 3060 minutes for Ajax last term (58.7%). The Ghanaian is able to punch holes in opposition defences to help work angles to provide for others, or go for goal himself. Of course, the majority of his appearances came from the right wing, but the versatility to Kudus' game means he's able to fully utilise a statistically calculated WhoScored strength of 'Dribbling' in any number of roles. 

 

 

For Pochettino, this would be a hugely desirable trait. The Argentine can be expected to use his favoured 4-2-3-1 setup at Stamford Bridge next season, and Kudus can, in theory, operate in four different positions for Chelsea to help put opponents to the sword. Were Pochettino to play Kudus as the lone frontman, he wouldn't be the barrelling number nine that the Blues have supposedly been in the market for as noted by interest in Dusan Vlahovic and Folarin Balogun, though the latter showed a greater willingness to drop deeper as the 2022/23 season wore on. 

 

Rather, Kudus would feature as a false nine, one who is prepared to drop into the support bank of three to hold up possession and link the play. He's strong on the ball, so able to hold onto possession to allow teammates to make defence splitting runs into the box, and he is able to time his movement well to finish off moves by arriving late in the area. 

 

However, one aspect to Kudus' game that he needs to improve is when to make the right runs when playing off the shoulder of a marker. Only Jamie Vardy (29) was flagged offside more times than Kai Havertz (28) in the Premier League last season, so Chelsea fans have become accustomed to the flag being raised when they do get forward. Kudus would therefore need to work on this side to his game having flagged offside the third most times (19) in the Dutch top tier last term. 

 

This, though, ultimately depends on the role he would play for Chelsea. As a false nine, he wouldn't frequently attempt to beat the offside trap, which would help negate this weakness.

 

Even with the additions of Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson from RB Leipzig and Villarreal, respectively, the departures of Havertz, Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic, and Mateo Kovacic means Chelsea do need to dip into the market to cover the quartet's exits. Given Kudus' versatility, he could prove the perfect replacement for all four, which goes some way to explaining Chelsea's interest in the Ghana star.

The reasoning for Chelsea's interest in Ajax star Mohammed Kudus