Chelsea target ‘prefers’ Arsenal transfer with ‘crazy offer’ needed to complete raid on European giants | OneFootball

Ajax pair Florian Grillitsch and Mohammed Kudus.

According to reports, Ajax and Ghana attacker Mohammed Kudus ‘prefers’ a move to Arsenal over their Premier League rivals Chelsea.

Kudus enjoyed a great season in 2022/23. After shining for Ghana at the World Cup, he ended the campaign with 18 goals and seven assists for Ajax across all competitions.

The 22-year-old is out of contract in two years so Ajax may be better off selling him this summer before his valuation starts to decline.

He has been heavily linked with Man Utd over the past year but Arsenal and Chelsea are now seemingly leading the race to sign him ahead of next season.

Earlier this week, it was claimed that Kudus is ‘close’ to ‘agreeing personal terms’ ahead of a potential move to Chelsea but Football Transfers are reporting that he has ‘expressed a strong preference for joining Arsenal’ over their London rivals.

The fact that Arsenal are in the Champions League is reportedly ‘a prominent aspect in his decision and personal terms with the Gunners would not be an issue’.

Kudus ‘would be happy’ to sign for Chelsea but if he had the choice of the two clubs, he would reportedly ‘rather head to North London’.

A separate report from Fichajes (an equally as unreliable media outlet) claims Chelsea are planning a ‘crazy offer to steal the signing of Kudus from Arsenal’.

The Ajax standout is said to have become ‘the main protagonist of an exciting dispute between two Premier League giants like Chelsea and Arsenal’.

Chelsea ‘are willing to offer a juicy €45 million to acquire him’ and this bid would apparently ‘give them a significant advantage’ over Arsenal, who ‘need to generate revenue through sales before making a concrete offer’.

Journalist Ben Jacobs recently indicated that Chelsea are pursuing Kudus as a potential replacement for Conor Gallagher.

“The Arsenal interest is genuine as well, although they won’t move prior to outgoings. They made contact a couple of weeks ago. Brighton are also in the race. Kudus is going to cost about £40m,” Jacobs told Caught Offside.

“I think if Chelsea sell Conor Gallagher they will move quickly for an attack-minded midfielder. West Ham have seen a bid rejected for Gallagher for around £40m. He has got plenty of minutes in pre-season under Mauricio Pochettino, but Chelsea will sell if the price is right.”

Arsenal Mohammed Kudus