It has been a superb debut season in England for former Liverpool transfer target Mohammed Kudus.
After joining West Ham United from Ajax for around £38m last summer, Kudus has scored 13 goals and registered four assists in 38 games.
It was perhaps a surprise to see him join West Ham in the first place. Liverpool had long been rumoured to be keeping an eye on the Ghanaian during his Ajax days and a move had seemed possible.
But with the Reds focusing on bolstering their midfield instead, they didn’t see fit to go after Kudus too. The decision to let the 23-year-old slip through the net was slammed at the time and has looked worse since.
Liverpool’s loss has certainly been the Hammers gain, though. But although they missed out on Kudus, the Reds can at least boast to own the player he has now named as being the best he’s ever faced on the pitch.
Mohammed Kudus hails Liverpool’s Thiago
Though he’s a player with more forward-thinking tendencies, Kudus can also potentially play in a slightly deeper role as well.
As a result, it’s no surprise to hear him hail the qualities he saw on display from Liverpool’s Thiago Alcantara when playing against him last season.
In fact, for those who have been paying attention, it won’t be a shock at all to hear Kudus hail Thiago. The Ghana international has previously named the rarely seen Liverpool man as his footballing idol.
So, when Kudus was asked to share the best player he’s ever played against by Sky Sports Premier League, we already knew the answer.
“Thiago I would say. In the Champions League when Ajax played Liverpool, I played against him,” he said.
“I wasn’t surprised by what I saw, you couldn’t get close to him. He was too smooth, you can never get close. He dictated the whole game at Anfield.”
When is Thiago back from injury
Kudus’ words of praise for Thiago are just another indication as to what Liverpool supporters have been robbed of this season.
The Spain international has played a grand total of five minutes for the Reds in 2023/24. Whichever way you slice it, that has had an effect on Liverpool.
Although it had looked like he might return for the run-in when he featured against Arsenal on February 4th, Thiago hasn’t been seen again since.
There was a rare spotting of him on social media just last week, as his agents shared a picture of Liverpool’s No.6 in training. However, no further word has been said on when – or if – he might be back to play again for the Reds. With his contract up in the summer, it looks like we’ve seen the last of Thiago at Liverpool. Fancy replacing him maybe, Mohammed?
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