Wolves took on West Ham United and were easily beaten at the London Stadium – and it was quite the performance from Mohammed Kudus.
Gary O’Neil’s side were well beaten by the Hammers, who took advantage of some very poor defending from the visitors down in the capital.
Wanderers went to a back four, and the decision to do that was a questionable one with Wolves not really having the greatest personnel for that system.
West Ham have some good firepower, and Mohammed Kudus really enjoyed himself on Sunday going up against Toti Gomes.
The Ghana international was a total handful, with Toti – usually very reliable for Wolves – totally uncomfortable dealing with his pace, trickery and movement.
Kudus scored two goals in 10 minutes in the first-half, and then managed to get Toti a yellow card as he threatened to burst past him down the wing.
He was a little quieter in the second-half but still looked threatening and, watching him, it was difficult not to think back to those transfer links to Wolves last year…
Wolves appear to have missed out on a gem in Mohammed Kudus as star hits brace for West Ham
Kudus looked a real class act against Wolves, although Toti Gomes was playing in a position he doesn’t really feature in that often these days.
The Portuguese defender is more accustomed to playing on the left of a three, so to operate at left-back in a four was perhaps asking for a bit of trouble.
Kudus showed no mercy against Toti, who was eventually substituted off on 70 minutes in a clear sign that he had lost his battle on the day.
Sunday was not a one-off for Kudus.
He has been a top signing so far for West Ham, after joining the club from Ajax in the summer for a reported £38 million.
The 23-year-old has made 21 appearances so far for the irons and has already scored eight goals, with five of those coming in the Premier League. Sky Sports pundit Daniel Sturridge branded his first finish on Sunday ‘sublime’, and it definitely looks as though West Ham have a real talent on their hands.
There may well have been some envious Wolves officials watching on on Sunday, with Kudus having actually been linked with a move to Molineux last year.
It was claimed by Football Ghana that Kudus was a player Wolves really liked and that the club were going to open talks about a potential move. This was when Kudus was inexplicably not getting many minutes at the Dutch giants.
Kudus then shone for Ghana at the World Cup, causing his stock to rise pretty high. He would stay at Ajax until the end of the season, with West Ham pouncing in the summer as Wolves fought to balance the books.
Maybe it was always going to be difficult for Wolves to sign Kudus. It is just a shame that Wolves officials were not on to him before he started to really shine and his market value soared.