Mohammed Kudus ‘could be replaced at Ajax by Atlanta United midfielder Thiago Almada as a deal to send the Ghanaian to West Ham is nearly done’
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After selling off top player Mohammed Kudus to West Ham United, Dutch giants Ajax have their sights set on his replacement with six days left in the transfer window.
That search could lead them stateside, with reports indicating that Ajax are interested in Atlanta United midfielder Thiago Almada.
The 22-year-old Argentine has been a sensation in MLS since joining in February of 2022 from Velez Sarsfield in his native country for a league inbound record fee of $16million.
Reports in Argentina say that a fee of around €15m (£12.8m, $16.1m) proposed by Ajax are very far off the mark.
The belief is that Atlanta will require a fee of around the MLS record of $29m (€26.8m, £23m) to get the deal done.
That record fee was paid to Atlanta by Newcastle United in the 2018/19 season for Paraguayan winger Miguel Almiron.
Almada has been masterful with the Five Stripes – bagging 16 goals and 17 assists in 54 appearances over the course of two seasons.
On the back of winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup with Argentina – and becoming the first MLS player to achieve that accomplishment – Almada has eight goals and eleven assists in 22 matches this season.
That assist mark is good for second-best in MLS, just one behind New England’s Carlos Gil.
While nothing has been officially announced yet, Kudus’s move to East London is in the advanced stages.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the clubs have reached a verbal agreement on a deal for a total package of about €45m (£38.5m, $48.5m).
Kudus had four goals in just three games so far this season – including a hat-trick against Ludogorets in the first qualifying leg of the Europa League.
Last season, he had 18 goals and seven assists across 42 games for his club and he’ll leave Ajax with 27 goals and twelve assists over 87 career matches.
