Former Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan has praised the development in Mohammed Kudus’ style of play, highlighting key improvements after the midfielder scored his debut Premier League goal against Newcastle United on Sunday.
Gyan noted that Kudus has made progress in understanding how to position himself to receive the ball and when to release it. This newfound awareness in Kudus’ game has impressed Gyan, who believes that if the young midfielder maintains this consistency, he could become a world-class player.
“I have seen some big changes in Kudus’ play. He is beginning to understand how to move into spaces to receive the ball and releasing the ball at the right time. If he continues like this consistently, he will be a world-class player,” Gyan expressed on X (formerly known as Twitter) following the match.
In the game against Newcastle United, Kudus came off the bench to score a crucial late goal in the 89th minute, securing a 2-2 draw for West Ham. This marked Kudus’ fifth appearance as a substitute, and there has been criticism from fans for not starting the attacking midfielder. However, Gyan believes that West Ham manager David Moyes is handling Kudus appropriately, drawing parallels to his own experience when he joined Sunderland in 2010 from Rennes.
“The coach is managing him very well. I think the coach is convinced if he wants to start him in a Premier League game,” Gyan wrote. He recalled his own situation at Sunderland, where he initially came off the bench despite being a record signing.
“Fans didn’t understand why a record-signing player should be coming on as a sub and kept proving himself. Steve Bruce made me understand that he didn’t want to put too much pressure on me, and that the right moment will come. It came, and I took it.”
Since joining West Ham in the summer from Ajax in a deal reportedly worth over 40 million euros, Kudus has already scored three goals.