Mohammed Kudus has been in the limelight in the past few months and rightly so. On June 15, the 19-year-old made the prestigious 100 man shortlist for the 2020 Golden Boy award, an honor given to the best footballers in Europe under 21 years.

On Thursday, he earned the biggest move of his young career. After links to numerous big clubs in Europe, Ajax came calling and the former Nordsjaelland star answered.

Kudus will be expected to surpass his exploits at Denmark. Head coach of Ajax, Erik ten Hag, lost key player Hakim Ziyech to Chelsea and the Ghanaian may be asked to fill the seemingly huge gap left by the Moroccan wizard.

The current Eredivisie winners coughed up €9 million for the player’s services, a hefty fee for a Ghanaian of his age.

Where does his transfer fee rank among other biggest Ghanaian transfers to European clubs since 2011?

Players ahead of Kudus

In total, seven Ghanaian players have commanded a higher transfer fee than Kudus in the last decade.

The Black Stars captain, André Ayew, heads the list. The 30-year-old has featured for some of the most distinguished clubs in Europe including Marseille, West Ham and Swansea City.

During a span of three years (from 2016 to 2018), André commanded a total of €46.9 million in transfers. He currently features for Swansea City in the English Championship. The son of the legendary Abedi Pele has been in fine form for the Swans this season, scoring 15 goals in 42 league matches.

André Ayew’s brother, Jordan Ayew, also switched clubs for a higher fee than Kudus. The 28-year-old was transferred to Aston Villa in 2015 after a stellar season at Ligue 1 outfit Lorient.

He set his highest goals tally for the season with the Ligue 1 side (13) after playing 33 matches in all competitions.

Jordan spent two seasons with Aston Villa, scoring 10 goals in 58 appearances before making moving to Swansea City and later Crystal Palace. He is the top scorer of Crystal Palace this season with nine league goals. One of his current team mates also hit a higher mark than Kudus.

Jeffrey Schlupp, a current Crystal Palace player was signed by the Eagles in 2017 from boyhood club Leicester City.

The left-back played for the Foxes at youth level before moving to Brentford on loan. On his return, he established himself in the first team, playing a total of six seasons.

The Ghanaian was part of the club’s historic journey from a Championship side to Premier League winners against all odds in 2016. He made 150 appearances for Leicester City, scoring 15 goals. Another Ghanaian left-back attracted a bigger fee in 2015.

Abdul Baba Rahman, currently a player for Chelsea, was one of the highly rated left-backs in the world after his amazing output in the 2014/15 season for Augsburg in the Bundesliga.

He attempted 108 tackles, the most in the league with an 83% success rate whilst making 83 interceptions and winning 80 aerial duels.

Chelsea decided to acquire him during the summer window in 2015. After a rough start to life in London, he was loaned to a number of teams with the latest being La Liga outfit RCD Mallorca. He failed to make his mark at Mallorca this season due to injuries.

Kwadwo Asamoah is the next on the list following his big move to Juventus in 2012.

He started his senior career with Udinese during the 2008/09 season where he steadily earned his place as an important first team player. Juventus recruited the midfielder after his impressive displays.

The 31-year-old won six Serie A titles with the Bianconeri. He moved to his current club Inter Milan on a free transfer in 2018. The former Torino youth player is however, not the only Italian-based star to make the cut.

Alfred Duncan, a current player of Fiorentina also commanded a hefty transfer fee in the recent past. The 27 year old featured for the likes of Inter, Sampdoria and AS Livorno in his early years.

He moved to Sassuolo in 2016. During his four year stay at the club, Duncan established himself as a key member and was coveted by other teams in the Serie A.

In the 2020 winter transfer window, a new move was announced. The Ghanaian midfielder made the switch to Fiorentina on loan with a huge obligatory transfer fee. He was plagued with injuries before the suspension of the league but has now recovered and is establishing himself in his new club.

Kevin-Prince Boateng is the final person ahead of Kudus. The 33-year-old commanded a combined €20.5 million (from 2011 to 2013) in transfer fees.

During that period, Boateng featured for AC Milan where he helped them win a Serie A title and Bundesliga outfit FC Schalke 04.

The numbers behind top ten Ghanaian transfers

In total, €155.2 million was spent by European clubs on the top ten Ghanaian transfers in the last decade.

André Ayew appeared on the list on two occasions. The Black Stars captain first earned a €24.10 million move to West Ham in August 2016, the highest figure in the top ten.

He also holds the second spot after completing a €22.80 million switch from the Hammers to Swansea City in January 2018. The former Marseille man takes a combined 30.2% of the total fee paid for the top ten.

Abdul Baba Rahman also commanded a huge outlay in 2015. The left-back was signed by Chelsea for €20 million after his impressive displays in Germany. That fee makes up 12.9% of the total €155.2 million coughed up and takes the third spot.

On the Italian front, Kwadwo Asamoah and Alfred Duncan made the top two. Asamoah’s showing convinced Juventus to pay €18 million for him in 2012 and Fiorentina agreed a €15 million obligatory fee for Duncan. Asamoah takes 11.6% and Duncan takes 9.7% whilst making fourth and fifth overall respectively.

Jeffrey Schlupp takes the sixth spot. The 27-year-old was acquired by Crystal Palace for €13.80 million in January 2017. The transfer fee takes 8.9% of the total expenditure.

Jordan Ayew occupies the seventh spot after completing a €12 million move to Aston Villa in 2015. The 28-year old’s transfer fee accounts for 7.7%. 

Kevin-Prince Boateng also appears twice on the list. He first moved on loan from Genoa to AC Milan in 2010. After a successful season, the seven time Champions League winners decided to make his move permanent with a €10.50 million payment.

In 2013, Boateng made another big move, this time to Schalke 04. The Bundesliga side paid €10 million for his services. He takes eighth and ninth on the list. The former Barcelona star accounts for an accumulated 13.2% of the total fees paid.

Kudus occupies the tenth and final spot. After staying with Nordsjaelland for three years, the 19-year-old completed a €9 million transfer to Ajax on Thursday. His transfer accounts for 5.8% of the total expenditure.

In the graph above, it can be concluded that most of the expenditures were completed by English clubs (5). They paid a total of €92.7 million for Ghanaian players.

The next in line was Italian clubs with three. Juventus, AC Milan and Fiorentina combine for €43.5 million. Germany paid €10 million and Netherlands paid €9 million.  

Also, it was discovered that €32 million was spent in 2015 for two of the top ten Ghanaians on the list (Baba Rahman and Jordan Ayew), the highest amount dispensed.

It is followed by the €24.1 million spent in 2016. €24 million was agreed for two Ghanaian players among the top ten (Duncan and Kudus), the third highest comparatively.

What to expect from Kudus

€9 million for a 19-year-old who plied his trade in the Danish top flight is a huge sum for a player. He has demonstrated that he is one to watch in the future following his sensational performances in the past year.

He will likely be given a lot of game time to shine and with added experience, he can perform miracles at the top level and increase his value on the market.

He is currently valued at €2.70 million on transfermarkt, a long way behind Thomas Partey’s €40 million on the same platform.

However, Kudus has a lot of time on his side to boost his value. Michael Essien was bought by Chelsea for €38 million 15 years ago, the highest transfer by a Ghanaian to date.

Kudus may well be sold for €100 million in a few years if he keeps performing at a high level.

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