West Ham United set ‘Tottenham tax’ for Premier League star as summer exit beckons

The East Londoners must sell the 24-year-old forward to help fund their own transfer moves as they look to reshape Graham Potter’s squad for next season. Kudus had a substandard second season at the London Stadium and managed only nine goal contributions, and as his stock is still high, the club wants to sell him and earn a sizeable profit.

Kudus would become the first player since Scott Parker in 2011 to make the direct switch across the capital. There has been animosity between Tottenham and West Ham for years now, and apparently after coming to terms that the Lilywhites have made Kudus a key target, they have set a ‘Tottenham tax’ on the player.

This is the interesting update given by reliable BBC Sport journalist Sami Mokbel when discussing Tottenham’s interest in Kudus. There have been whispers that Spurs may have to pay a higher fee to sign Kudus, with Chelsea also interested in the player. He says it’s ‘madness’ that we could see such a situation unfold in front of our eyes, but given the animosity and rivalry between Tottenham and West Ham, it is not surprising to believe.

“Do you think there would be a case where there would be one price out there for Tottenham and another price out there for other clubs?” Mokbel was asked on Last Word On Spurs podcast.

“Like a Tottenham tax do you mean? I’m not going to lie I have heard sentiment to that effect, unverified, but I have heard indications that there may be a ‘Tottenham tax’. It’s madness to me to add an extra couple of million on a player just because Tottenham are in it,” Mokbel responded.

Since 2000, there have been four players who have swapped West Ham for Tottenham and they are Frederic Kanoute, Jermain Defoe, Michael Carrick and Scott Parker. So, it is not like there haven’t been transfer dealings between the two clubs, although the last one to happen was with Parker leaving Boleyn Ground then for White Hart Lane back in 2011.

At this moment, Tottenham look a bit desperate to get a body in before the pre-season commences. They look fixated on Kudus, who if joins, would be a brilliant addition to Frank’s attacking ranks. Keeping that in mind, it will be interesting to see if Daniel Levy agrees to pay £10 million more than what they were originally hoping to pay to thrash out a deal for the Ghanaian international.