Many West Ham fans have made it clear they would like to see Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze replace Mohammed Kudus if he leaves.
Although like with Declan Rice before him, it’s already starting to feel somewhat ominous that Mohammed Kudus will depart West Ham next summer.
A club insider revealed this week that West Ham’s summer splurge would limit transfer funds for January and next summer.
West Ham are the Premier League’s fifth biggest spenders since 2022.
Another £155m was committed to transfers this summer as nine players arrived at the London Stadium.
Hammers supporters have been concerned the big spending of recent seasons will eventually have to be offset by the sale of one of the club’s top stars.
Kudus is undoubtedly West Ham’s best all round player. The star boy has started this season in red hot form. All that is missing at the moment is a goal.
The Ghanian attacker has an £85m release clause in his West Ham contract. It was not met by any clubs in the transfer window.
But it will be active again next summer and Liverpool are being heavily linked with Kudus as the heir to Mohamed Salah.
A top board source has already suggested Kudus could be sold by West Ham next summer.
Forget Eze, West Ham’s Kudus replacement is at Brentford
Kudus has never hidden the fact he is highly ambitious to reach the very top of the game.
And nobody can argue he is certainly talented enough.
But who will be Kudus’ heir in east London if he does depart?
Many Hammers fans have said they’d like it to be Crystal Palace’s brilliant Eberechi Eze.
One of the biggest surprises of the summer window in the Premier League is that Eze remained at Palace.
Even Eagles chairman Steve Parrish admitted he was shocked nobody came in for the England man.
West Ham wanted to sign Eze under David Moyes but couldn’t get the money together in time. In the end they did a deal with Brentford to sign Said Benrahma on an initial loan instead.
Eze would be a magnificent replacement for Kudus. And West Ham would obviously have money to play with given Kudus’ £85m release clause.
But signing him might be a touch unrealistic. West Ham are clearly a much bigger club than Palace.
If Eze was going to leave Selhurst Park, though, it’s likely he would want to join a Champions League side.
Julen Lopetegui will obviously be hoping and dreaming that could be West Ham by next summer.
But forget Eze because West Ham’s realistic Kudus replacement is at Brentford.
If star boy leaves then Mbeumo is the man West Ham must go for
Bryan Mbeumo is one of the most underrated and disregarded players in the Premier League.
His level of performance for Brentford has been astonishing.
Mbeumo was in Ivan Toney’s shadow at Brentford previously. Make no mistake, though, he has stepped up to the plate as the club’s talisman.
The 25-year-old has three goals in his first three games of the season and an average match rating of nearly 8/10.
Like Kudus at West Ham, Mbeumo puts in a serious shift for the team defensively.
The Cameroonian averaged over 7/10 last season as he scored nine goals and laid on six assists in 22 games before injury ruled him out for several months.
Mbeumo is left-footed like Kudus and boasts a similar balance and strength on the ball.
Brentford star one of the most underrated players around
Many football fans feel Mbeumo does not get the respect he deserves because he’s at Brentford.
Like Kudus, Mbeumo can play across the frontline including as a striker.
He would most certainly not cost as much as Eze. And joining a club like West Ham – playing in front of 62,500 fans every other week – would be a logical next step.
Especially if the Hammers do get themselves back into Europe for next season.
Luis Guilherme has clearly been signed to be a potential future replacement for Kudus.
But Mbeumo would be the proven, tried and tested option. And he’d likely cost less than half what West Ham would get for Kudus if Liverpool or another club activate his £85m release clause.
Bookmark this article. Because this is the season Mbeumo truly makes his name as a Premier League star.
And West Ham should be at the front of the queue to sign him next summer.
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