The £60m landmark Tottenham signing club must avoid making as summer transfer business accelerates

Tottenham Hotspur are set for a busy summer, with a considerable volume of spending expected as they work to rebuild their squad following their worst Premier League finish and the departure of Ange Postecgolou – but they aren’t necessarily having everything their own way in the transfer market.

Go back a week or so, and it looked for all the world as though Spurs were at the front of the queue to sign Eberechi Eze from Crystal Palace, giving new head coach Thomas Frank a statement signing and strengthening an inconsistent attacking line. Then, Arsenal got involved, and now the move is in doubt - and that comes just a week or so after it started to look as though they might be able to snatch Bryan Mbeumo away from Manchester United, now a distinctly distant prospect.

With their primary target seemingly unobtainable and their second choice far from guaranteed, Spurs seem to have turned their attention to Plan C. The Daily Telegraph report (behind a pay wall) that the club are in the market for West Ham United’s Mohammed Kudus, the Ghana international who scored five Premier League goals for the Hammers last season. But would a move for Kudus really make sense?

Will Tottenham sign Mohammed Kudus this summer?

While The Telegraph’s reporting does not include an asking price, a number of outlets have recently suggested that West Ham are likely to ask for at least £60m to part with the 24-year-old winger.

That’s around £10m less than the likely minimum valuation for Eze, but can scarcely be described as a bargain. £60m would represent a significant chunk of Spurs’ transfer budget for the season, and The Telegraph’s report notes that they may need to sell in order to spend unless owners Enic invest some new money.

Spurs, then, need to be very sure that they’re getting a player who can elevate their attack before splashing quite so much cash on a single man, but they seem keen to press ahead with a deal, with report stating that unnamed sources believe Kudus to be “the most likely signing” for Spurs as they search for a versatile attacking option.

The £60m price tag probably won’t put Spurs off if they believe they have the right man. West Ham are believed to be prepared to sell the Ghanaian for rather less than his £85m release clause as they look to balance their books during a rebuild of their own, but given that Kudus is contracted at the London Stadium until 2028 – with the Hammers also having the option to extend that by a further year – there is certainly no compulsion for them to sell him on the cheap.

Rumoured interest from Saudi Arabian Pro League side Neom SC may complicate matters somewhat. They are expected to be ready and willing to meet West Ham’s asking price even if it moves above £60m – a report from GhanaWeb claims that they are ready to pay as much as £70m – and Neom will likely be able to blow Spurs out of the water when it comes to wages.

In short, if Kudus is willing to contemplate a move to Saudi Arabia – and it remains unclear whether he is – then the price will go up, perhaps to a point at which Spurs are forced to move on to another target entirely.

A deal is far from guaranteed, therefore, and the financial elements of any transfer will hinge in no small part on whether that Saudi money starts to be thrown in West Ham’s direction. But Spurs’ interest appears to be sincere, even if it may be that they view Kudus as a second choice to Eze.

Why Spurs should focus on Eberechi Eze amid Mohammed Kudus rumours

If Kudus does decide to push for a Premier League move instead of taking a lucrative deal to move to the Middle East, then the question for Spurs is whether Kudus is worth all that money – and despite a highly promising start to his West Ham career, the former Ajax forward hasn’t proven beyond doubt that he would pay that price tag back with interest.

Kudus endured a relatively lean year in 2024/25, scoring five league goals and adding three assists, both down by three on the numbers he registered the season before. In patches, he remained excellent, but he was unable to maintain a consistently high level of form or goal threat.

Eze, too, had a slightly leaner year in front of goal, failing to break double figures in the league for the first time in three years, but the England international still contributed eight goals and assists and finished the season in sublime form after a somewhat slow start. In terms of impact in the final third, Kudus appears to be lagging behind in comparison.

There are plenty of other areas in which Kudus lags behind, too. The table below compares the two players across a number of key statistical markers, and suggests that even outside of goals and assists, Eze offers a little more based on last season's performances.

Not only was his end product better, but he was involved in more moves leading to shots, was better at beating a man one-on-one and provided more dangerous passes. Kudus, for his part, found more space downfield to receive such passes (‘progressive passes’ are those which either find a player in the penalty area or at least 10 yards further downfield) but did less with that possession and territory when he got there.

Kudus’ relatively modest success rate when taking defenders on while carrying the ball is arguably a concern given his playing style. The statisticians credit Kudu with 208 attempted take-ons in the Premier League last season, the most of any player, but he succeeded with just 92 of them. Eze, who attempted the fifth most take-ons with 138, beat his man a more efficient 67 times.

Trying something so often – only Manchester City’s Jérémy Doku even came close to trying to beat a defender on the dribble as frequently - without an especially high success rate speaks to Kudus’ willingness to take defenders on, but not necessarily his excellence at doing so.

None of which makes Kudus a bad player, by any stretch of the imagination. A coach who plays with a direct, counter-attacking style of play that looks to get the ball into the final third as quickly and as often as possible will likely value Kudus’ desire to break the defensive line himself and his skill at finding space to offer a passing option downfield. But Eze is, as it stands, a stronger creative presence and simply much more efficient with the ball at his feet.

It’s tricky, based on what we’ve seen over the past two years, to come up with a strong argument for signing Kudus over Eze, especially when the prices are liable to be so different. They are different types of players, with Kudus more willing to look for ways to get in behind and offer direct passing options while Eze looks to take up slightly deeper positions, and it’s possible that Kudus lines up more easily with Frank’s vision for the club’s strategy. But Eze has a broader skill set and simply scores and creates more chances.

Of course, Spurs may not have the choice if Arsenal do indeed make a formal offer for Eze and persuade him to move to the Emirates – and they may even not have any choice if Neom come in for a willing Kudus. But in a world in which Spurs have an even chance to sign both players, Eze seems like the better option from most angles.