Mohammed Kudus to Ajax is now a done deal, as the Ghanaian player was signed for five years.
There are high expectations from the 19-year-old forward, but will he be good enough to prove it?
Mohammed Kudus began his career at the Right to Dream Academy, one of the well-known youth clubs in Ghana. His first moments of glory were in 2017 when he played with Right to Dream in the SuperCupNI, the youth tournament in Northern Ireland formerly called The Milk Cup. In this competition, Kudus was one of the team's key players on their journey to win the U-16 title. He made a remarkable performance at the final against Club America, when he scored twice in the last 15 minutes, leading his team to a 2-1 win.
After this tournament and an appearance at the U-17 World Cup with Ghana, Kudus got an offer to move to Europe. Alongside two of his teammates, Ibrahim Sadiq and Gideon Mensah, Kudus joined Nordsjælland from Denmark. He played for the youth team at the beginning, but in August 2018, a few days after his 18th birthday, he made his senior debut in the Danish Superliga.
After two years, Kudus moved to his next destination. Ajax decided to buy him for €9 million, one of the highest ever transfer fees ever paid for a player from the Danish league. Moreover, it's a record-breaking transfer fee for a Ghanaian teenager. These facts are rising the expectations from Mohammed Kudus, but does Ajax made the right move?
Ajax can be proud of a tradition of developing talented youngsters, but their front line is quite different. Two of their top three scorers in the last season are older than 30, Dušan Tadić and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, while the latter is 36 years old. With 11 goals in 25 league games, Kudus can surely be one of Ajax's leading strikers.
Nevertheless, playing in the Eredivisie could be an opportunity for Kudus. The teams in the Netherlands are playing in a more attacking style compared to the Danish counterparts. It can help Kudus have a significant scoring record and get his next contract in a major league. We remember the example of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Luis Suárez, but there are also recent cases like the transfer of Alireza Jahanbakhsh to the Premier League.
The connection between Mohammed Kudus and Ajax can be love at first sight, but could it last for a serious relationship?
Thumbnail photo by AFC Ajax official Twitter.
