Ghana and West Ham attacking midfielder, Mohammed Kudus is set to miss their scintillating clash against Nigeria after picking up a knee injury, Soccernet.ng reports. The 23-year-old midfielder, who is also capable of playing through the flanks, has been a revelation under David Moyes this season.
With Michail Antonio spending a lot of time on the sidelines due to an injury, and Ings facing a dip in form, Moyes switched England’s Jarod Bowen’s role, playing him up-front, with Kudus moving through the right side and Lucas Pacqueta playing through the centre.
The inversion has seen him come up with ten Premier League goal involvements this season, totalling twenty in all competitions he has participated in this season.
His expertise, however, could not prevent a group-stage exit for the Black Stars of Ghana at the AFCON 2023 tournament in Ivory Coast. The turn-out of their competition led to the sack of their Chris Hughton and the appointment of
Borussia Dortmund’s Otto Addo.
Addo, on a $50,000 monthly salary by the Ghanian FA, included Kudus in his 26-man squad to face Nigeria. In a report released by
West Ham Zone, it was revealed that the new coach will be without Kudus for their friendlies this month.
Kudus will fly back to West Ham to get medical attention for a knee discomfort, sidelining him from the game against Nigeria.
Stand-in Nigeria coach, Finidi George, will also be without Victor Osimhen, Victor Boniface and Taiwo Awoniyi, as the trio are out due to injury. Cyriel Dessers, Sadiq Umar and Paul Onuachu are the most likely strikers to fill the void.