Everton transfer interest in Mohammed Kudus confirmed as Liverpool join ‘big bag of money’ bidding war

Everton made a move to sign Ajax and Ghana attacker Mohammed Kudus in the summer and are set to renew their interest after the World Cup.

Kudus said he was ‘really close’ to completing a move to Goodison Park during the previous transfer window and was unhappy that his Dutch club blocked a £15 million deal. “Everton offered me a great opportunity and I wanted to try it,” the 22-year-old told Dutch media outlet NOS.

The Toffees have not cooled on the idea of adding the verstaile forward to the squad and his brace in Ghana’s 3-2 win over South Korea at the World Cup on Monday shows why.

Unfortunately, Kudus, who can play up front or as an attacking midfielder, is now attracting the interest of Liverpool too, according to reports in the Netherlands.

De Telegraaf journalist Mike Verweij told the newspaper’s podcast Kick-Off: “Everton was of course already concrete and Kudus was very angry that it did not go through. Ajax did not want to talk to Everton at the time.”

“Now Liverpool is also concrete,” Verweij is quoted as saying. “If two clubs from a country are going to bid against each other then that’s good, but two clubs from one city is very nice.”

“Of course, it can be certain that [Ajax Technical Director] Gerry Hamstra and [technical assistant] Klaas-Jan Huntelaar will hold up their hands again and that they will have to come up with a huge bag of money.”

Everton manager Frank Lampard confirmed earlier this week that bolstering his misfiring attack is the ‘priority’ during the January transfer window.

With key striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin out injured for the majority of the season and Richarlison sold to Spurs in the summer, the Toffees have scored just 11 Premier League goals this term - only Wolves have netted less, with eight.