English side West Ham have deprived Mohammed Kudus of their Tuesday night match against Brighton in the Premier League. Reports in England reveal a slight injury to the winger who is selected by Ghana for CAN 2023 in Ivory Coast.
Kudus has not been included in the Hammers’ squad for their clash against Brighton and Hove Albion this evening. This news is surprising, especially since the 23-year-old winger remains a key man in the Londoners’ system in their good start to the season with his six league goals.
This is even more worrying, as the player was one of the scorers for David Moyes’ side during the superb 2-0 victory over Arsenal last Thursday.
Kudus injured a few days before the CAN?
According to information from Mail Sport, Kudus is sent to the infirmary by West Ham to treat a minor hamstring injury. The English club is now awaiting the results of a scan to be able to decide the fate of its superstar, who should join his country, Ghana, in the coming days for preparations for CAN 2023.
Further reports reveal the Hammers have attempted to retain their star winger for today’s match against the Seagulls. The English media reveals that it was the Ghana coach, Chris Hughton, faced with several other injuries, which prevented Moyes from fielding Kudus.
For information, Premier League clubs are obliged to release their players for the CAN on New Year’s Day.
Kudus will return to Ghana, a certainty!
Although the London team is awaiting the results of the infirmary, we can safely say that the former Ajax Amsterdam player will join Ghana soon to begin preparations within the Black Stars. Taking into account the West African side’s potential, Kudus could miss up to six Hammers games. Of course, Moyes has already prepared himself for this, psychologically at least.
“I think we always face it with the level of competition, but we’re never going to say we’re not going. I think next month the boys will go to the African Nations, just the whole programme. How can we do without Kudus which was sensational? We have to make sure we don’t lose a lot of it, because the truth is we’ve had virtually no injuries all season and we haven’t had to make too many changes and now it will be up to others to take take over and show what they can do,” Moyes said of Kudus’ absence.
Kudus will be instrumental in Ghana’s quest for a fifth star
Kudus will be one of the key men for Ghana, who will make their 24th appearance at the AFCON this year. The Black Stars will seek to put a fifth star on their jersey, after those of 1963, 1965, 1978 and 1982. The West Africans’ recent best result is the final lost in 2015 against Ivory Coast in Equatorial Guinea, their fifth setback at this stage of the tournament.
The team led by Hughton is already preparing to join Ivory Coast, a neighboring country which should be favorable for them. A friendly match against Botswana was canceled at the last minute, but the Ivorians will face Namibia to prepare before the CAN. The friendly match will be played at the Baba Yara sports stadium on Monday January 8, 2024.
In Ivory Coast, Ghana will begin their CAN against Cape Verde on January 14, 2024, before facing Mohamed Salah’s Pharaohs of Egypt four days later. Their final Group B match is against Mozambique on January 22. Highly anticipated for this competition, the Black Stars, who missed their performance at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, should show a different face, a priori.
