Mohammed Kudus

Mohammed Kudus (born 2 August 2000) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a right winger for club West Ham United and the Ghana national team. He has previously played for Nordsjælland and Ajax.

Nordsjælland
Kudus arrived at Danish club Nordsjælland from the Ghanaian Right to Dream Academy, which he joined at the age of 17, in January 2018 together with two teammates, Ibrahim Sadiq and Gideon Mensah.

Kudus made his official debut for Nordsjælland only three days after his 18th birthday, in a 2–0 defeat against Brøndby IF. He played from the first minute as a striker, but was replaced in the half-time. With his debut, he became the ninth youngest to make his debut in the history of the club.

2020–22: Adaptation to the Netherlands and injury issues
On 16 July 2020, Kudus signed for Eredivisie club Ajax for €9 million, on a five-year contract. He made his official debut for the club on 20 September in a league match against RKC Waalwijk. Head coach Erik ten Hag subsequently called Kudus as a player with "incredible potential". He continued his strong performances, scoring one goal and providing three assists in his first three appearances. His debut in the UEFA Champions League for the home match against Liverpool on 21 October 2020, however, it was unfortunate. Kudus was subbed out after only six minutes, as he suffered a meniscus injury, keeping him out for several months. He returned back from injury in January 2021, coming on in the late minute to play 10 minutes in a 2–2 draw against PSV. He suffered a setback in his recovery and missed the rest of the matches in January before returning to action in February. On 21 February 2021, returned to Ajax’s starting eleven for the first time since October 2020, and scored a goal in the 50th minute of Ajax's 4–0 win over Sparta Rotterdam.

After returning from injury, he played in 13 of Ajax's final 14 league games, as well as 31 minutes of their KNVB Cup semi-final match against Heerenveen as Ajax clinched the domestic double at the end of his first season. He won his first career trophy the 2020–21 KNVB Cup with Ajax on 18 April 2021 after a late 91st minute of additional time goal by David Neres. At the end of the season, Kudus made 22 appearances in all competitions for Ajax scored four goals and made three assists.

On 25 July 2021, Ajax announced during pre-season that Kudus had suffered an ankle injury and was training separately from the rest of the team ahead of the 2021–22 season. He made his return from injury on 21 September, coming on at half-time to score the fourth goal of Ajax's 5–0 triumph over Fortuna Sittard. Kudus suffered an injury while playing for Ghana in November 2021, sidelining him for three months. His first match back from injury was on 14 February 2022 against FC Twente, where he replaced Steven Berghuis for the final four minutes of their 5–0 victory.

Whilst fully recovering from his injures and being restricted by playing time, Kudus played four matches and scored four goals for Jong Ajax in the Eerste Divisie, including scoring a hat-trick against ADO Den Haag.

On 17 April, he came on in the 86th minute for Davy Klaassen in the 2022 KNVB Cup final, which Ajax lost 2–1 to fierce rivals PSV. Subsequent to his return, he played in 11 out of 13 league matches, but only started in two of them as Ajax won the 2021–22 Eredivisie.

2022–23: Breakthrough and final seasons
On 7 September 2022, Kudus scored his first Champions League goal in a 4–0 win over Rangers. On 19 February 2023, he scored from a free-kick in the 84th minute of a league match against Sparta Rotterdam to earn Ajax a 4–0 victory. After scoring his goal, he paid tribute to fellow Ghanaian footballer, Christian Atsu, who died in the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake. He ran to the sideline and removed his Ajax shirt to display a white shirt underneath that read, "RIP Atsu." He scored 18 goals in 42 appearances with six assists in the 2022–23 season.

Kudus started the season, on 12 August with a goal in the 75th minute in Ajax's 4–1 opening-day win against Heracles. This was followed, in his last game for Ajax, on 24 August by a hat-trick in a 2023–24 Europa League play-off first-leg qualifier against Ludogorets in Bulgaria as Ajax won 4–1.

West Ham United
On 27 August 2023, Kudus left Ajax, signing for Premier League club West Ham United on a five-year contract for an undisclosed fee, which was reported to be €44.5m (£38m) plus add-ons. He also became the third Ghanaian player to play for West Ham following John Paintsil and André Ayew and the second most expensive Ghanaian footballer of all-time behind Thomas Partey.

He made his debut on 1 September in a 2–1 away win against Luton Town coming on in the 91st minute. He scored his first goals for the club in a group stage game of the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League on 21 September at home, netting a brace against Serbian team, Bačka Topola in a 3–1 win. On October 9, Kudus scored his first Premier League goal against Newcastle United in the 89th minute to tie the game 2–2. Kudus scissor kick goal against Brentford in November 2023 was voted West Ham's Goal of the Month for November.

On 14 March 2024, Kudus scored a goal described as a "goal of the season contender" and being likened to Diego Maradona's goal against England at the 1986 FIFA World Cup by former West Ham midfielder Joe Cole after the winger picked up the ball in his own half, before dribbling past three defenders to finish past Noah Atubolu to score West Ham's fourth goal in a 5–0 win against German side Freiburg in the UEFA Europa League round of 16. After scoring in 4–3 away defeat by Newcastle United on 30 March, Kudus became the top scoring Ghanaian for the club with 13 goals surpassing André Ayew's record of 12 goals. He finished his debut season as the player with most successful dribbles in the Premier League in 124 occasions.

International career
Since 2019, he has been a part of the Ghana national team and scored several goals. On 14 November 2021, Kudus sustained a ruptured rib injury whilst playing for the Black Stars in their final 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier Group match against South Africa. This injury kept him out for almost three months including missing the delayed 2021 African Cup of Nations despite being named in the final squad list for the competition. Kudus made a return into the squad to play for Ghana in their final 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification playoff against Nigeria. He played in both matches as Ghana qualified for their fourth World Cup tournament.

In November 2022, Kudus was called up to the 26-man Ghana squad that would compete in Qatar for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In his World Cup debut, Ghana faced Portugal in a 3–2 defeat. The following match, Kudus scored twice in a 3–2 win over South Korea. Ghana required a win or draw in their final group match against Uruguay to advance. However, they lost 2–0, sending Ghana home in fourth place in their group.

In January 2024, he was named in the 27-man squad for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast. After shockingly losing the tournament's opening match against Cape Verde 2–1, Ghana faced Egypt in the following match, where he scored a brace in a 2–2 draw. In their final group stage match against Mozambique, Kudus managed to win a penalty for his team, which was converted by Jordan Ayew. Despite being two goals up, Mozambique managed to tie the game with two late goals, and with group rivals Egypt scoring a late goal to draw 2–2 against already-qualified Cape Verde, both teams were eliminated from the tournament, and Egypt advance from the group stage to the knockout stages.

Personal life
Kudus hails from Nima in Accra, Ghana, and he is a Muslim. He has two brothers in Accra.

International

 * Scores and results list Ghana's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kudus goal.

Honours
Ajax
 * Eredivisie: 2020–21, 2021–22
 * KNVB Cup: 2020–21

Individual
 * Ghana Football Awards Footballer of the Year: 2023
 * SWAG Sports Personality of the Year: 2022, 2023
 * SWAG Foreign Footballer of the Year: 2021, 2022, 2023
 * Eredivisie Talent of the Month: May 2021
 * Eredivisie Team of the Month: September 2020, May 2021, September 2022, February 2023
 * IFFHS Men's CAF Team of the Year: 2022
 * IFFHS CAF Youth Team of the Year: 2020
 * CAF Team of the Year: 2023
 * West Ham United Goal of the Season: 2023–24
 * UEFA Europa League Goal of the Season: 2023–24