Sky Sports pundit fears over Everton move for Mohammed Kudus in expensive Ajax auction
We’re delighted to welcome former Everton striker Kevin Campbell as our exclusive columnist. Each week the former Toffees captain will be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Goodison Park…
Mohammed Kudus’ move to Everton is in jeopardy if Ajax have their eye on pushing the price up amid wide interest, according to Kevin Campbell.
The Ghanaian international appeared to be on the verge of a move to Everton on 19 August, with Fabrizio Romano and Paul Joyce both reporting he was set for Goodison, but amid teammate Antony’s potential move to Old Trafford and unexpectedly wide interest in Kudus coach Alfred Schreuder has claimed he is going nowhere and the move ground to a halt.
In light of how the Dutch giants negotiated their way to a massive fee to sell Lisandro Martinez to Manchester United and appear to be doing the same with Antony, Sky Sports pundit Campbell expects them to look for maximum value if there are multiple suitors which could be bad news for the Toffees.
Speaking exclusively to Goodison News he said: “That price will go up. That’s what [Ajax] have been doing all summer haven’t they?
“Potentially it might not happen. Like I said, Ajax have been going to auction for players anyway. They want the biggest bang for the buck.
“If they’re going to be getting players out the door, you saw what happened with Martinez at Manchester United, it started off at £30million then it ended up going to £57million, it’s a lot of money.
“So Ajax are playing their position perfectly. The more people who are interested, they are just going to let it go to auction.
“Then the highest bidder is probably going to win, so that might make it more difficult for Everton to do business.”
Kudus isn’t the first deal that has run into difficulty, with the likes of Idrissa Gueye’s future still not clear either.
The situation around the 22-year-old suggests there has been a complete change of attitude on the part of one party, since reports from multiple sources suggesting a move was imminent wouldn’t have appeared entirely out of thin air.
If Ajax sensed an opportunity at the last second to back out of a deal and find a better one it will be highly frustrating for Everton, and if it isn’t now to happen all they can do is move on to other targets instead if they still want to sign an attacking midfielder.