West Ham United could get a huge Mohammed Kudus boost thanks to hapless Chris Hughton’s bang average Ghana.
West Ham are already sorely missing their star boy Mohammed Kudus.
Proof if it were needed arrived in spades in West Ham’s home draws with Brighton and Championship Bristol City to start the new year.
Just as the Hammers were starting to get some momentum and rhythm among their Holy Trinity of Kudus, Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta – AFCON and injuries have thrown a spanner in the works.
And West Ham fans are understandably concerned it could derail their top six hopes.
In the extreme, David Moyes faces being without Kudus until mid-February.
West Ham could get huge Kudus boost
That’s should Ghana get to the final in Ivory Coast on February 11th. Players would usually be given a week off after AFCON so the £38m star would not be expected back until after the Forest game on February 17th.
That would mean Kudus would miss a total of eight games – and nine should the Hammers win their replay at Bristol.
Kudus is currently recovering from a hamstring strain which would have seen him miss the Brighton and Bristol games anyway – which takes the edge off a touch.
But West Ham could get a huge Kudus boost thanks to hapless Chris Hughton’s bang average Ghana.
Many have assumed Ghana are one of the favourites to win AFCON. But that could not be any further from the truth.
Hughton failing to inspire bang average Ghana
Former Hammer Hughton has failed to inspire the Black Stars thus far and they only just scraped into the tournament – thanks to West Ham’s main man Kudus.
Their performances, form and results do nothing to suggest Ghana have a chance of going all the way.
They failed to beat Namibia in a bore draw on Monday after which angry fans sent a warning to Hughton and his players.
Ghana have also lost to the likes of Madagascar, Comoros and Niger in recent times. They were well beaten 4-0 by USA and have been held by teams such as Angola too. Any time they have faced quality opposition – such as Uruguay and Mexico, they have been easily beaten too.
Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Nigeria and hosts Ivory Coasts are the hot favourites, as explained in detail on Al Jazeera.
Ghana are in the same group as Egypt. And they will not steamroll Cape Verde or Mozambique on recent form.
So West Ham can be hopeful that Kudus will in fact make an earlier return to east London.
Star boy back for Man United?
The top two teams from each group qualify for the last 16 along with the four best third-placed sides.
So it would take some going for Ghana not to reach the last 16 – which takes place between January 27th and 30th.
But there is little evidence Hughton’s very average team – Kudus besides – will go any further than that.
And that could see our star boy return to West Ham – possibly in time for the Man United away game on February 4th.
We obviously wish Kudus well with his country. But from a selfish perspective, West Ham will be hoping Ghana maintain their distinctly average performances under Hughton and he returns to east London sooner than expected.
Ghana kick off their AFCON group campaign against Cape Verde on Sunday at 8pm. Kudus is not expected to play as he recovers from his hamstring strain.
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