Liverpool may have missed the chance to seal £85m transfer

Liverpool may have missed the chance to seal the transfer of West Ham United star Mohammed Kudus this summer, with reports coming in that his £85million release clause has now expired.

The Ghana international is understood to be on the radar of Liverpool as an alternative to Anthony Gordon in this transfer window, per CaughtOffside sources, but it seems West Ham now expect to keep their star player.

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See below as Fabrizio Romano has posted on X, formerly Twitter, to confirm the news broken by ExWHUEmployee, which is that Kudus is no longer available for that £85m fee, and that West Ham are hopeful about keeping him at the London Stadium…

??? Mohammed Kudus’ release clause worth £85m is no longer valid for this summer transfer window.

The clause expired on June 30th, as called by @ExWHUEmployee — West Ham are optimistic to keep him at the club.

Kudus, under contract until June 2028 with option for further year. pic.twitter.com/8374nSTXoh

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 2, 2024

Kudus transfer blow for Liverpool

Kudus could have been a fine signing for Liverpool, though, with new manager Arne Slot arguably inheriting a bit of an ageing squad, with players like Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota no longer quite at the peak of their powers.

That surely would’ve left room for Kudus to come in and give the Merseyside giants a new option to add some spark to their attack, which is no longer quite as dazzling as it was during the years of a peak Salah alongside Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.

Kudus enjoyed an impressive first season at West Ham since his move from Ajax last summer, and it seems likely he’ll one day be someone they can sell for big money, but for now it looks like the more likely outcome is him staying put for the next year at least.

Liverpool have other areas that could also do with strengthening, however, so it might be best for them to now have the opportunity to sort out their defence, which was not good enough last season and ultimately saw them fall away in the title race late on, with a long-term replacement for the ageing Virgil van Dijk surely needed.