Ajax coach Alfred Schreuder insists he knows nothing about speculation suggesting £8 million Eredivisie champion Mohammed Kudus is on his way to the Premier League with Everton, speaking to Voetbal International.
On one hand, Alex Iwobi deserves credit for adapting to a new-look central midfield role. But the fact that Frank Lampard has had to re-constitute a winger into a box-to-box playmaker is testament to the lack of quality and depth available to him at Goodison Park, particularly in the engine room department. And that’s even after Amadou Onana’s £35 million arrival.
It’s an issue Kudus, presuming he arrives before September’s deadline, should go some way to solving.
An £8 million signing form Nordsjaelland in the summer of 2020, Ajax’s Ghana international is a player of huge promise and potential at the age of just 22. He’s already drawn comparisons with legendary compatriot Michael Essien due to his fearsome blend of technique and physicality. Comparisons that are not exactly wide of the mark.
Are Everton really signing Ajax’s Mohammed Kudus?
Paul Joyce, of The Times, claimed on Friday that Everton were signing sign Kudus on loan, with a view to a permanent deal. But a transfer that seemed imminent at the start of the weekend feels a long way away still by the end of it.
“I haven’t heard anything,” Schreuder says of Kudus.
He, unlike Anthony, was included by Ajax for Sunday’s 1-0 win at Sparta Rotterdam.
“I think he should not leave,” the coach adds. “You can see that he is important. We need a lot of good players.”
Kudus is, however, a little ‘disappointed’ about his lack of game time under Erik Ten Hag’s Johan Cruyff Arena replacement. He has a grand total of just 23 minutes under his belt across Ajax’s first three Eredivisie games; Falling behind academy graduate Kenneth Taylor in the pecking order.
“We spoke with him 3 times, because he also thinks he should play,” adds Schreuder, the former Barcelona assistant who led Club Brugge to the Belgian title last term.
“Of course, I see that he is disappointed now and then. It’s about whether you can control that emotion for the team. He handles that well.”
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