Mohammed Kudus was pictured at The Emirates on Tuesday night and it immediately led to a load of naive Arsenal fans putting two and two together and making five.
It comes after rumours of a dressing room rift between Kudus and Julen Lopetegui at half-time against Brentford last weekend, when it has been revealed by The Athletic that the Spaniard had criticised the Ghanaian’s performance and subsequently replaced him with Carlos Soler for the second-half.
Despite many believing it was an indication that things are already turning toxic behind the scenes at London Stadium, the same report goes onto to say that the whole thing was completely blown out of proportion and that it was business as usual at training on Monday morning, with Kudus and Lopetegui having no issues with each other.
But the timing of Kudus’ appearance at Arsenal to watch the Gunners play PSG in the Champions League rather unsurprisingly fuelled talk of a potential move to north London for the winger in the future.
Because, you know, when footballers go to watch football in their spare time it just definitely means they’re planning on signing for the club they’re watching. I once saw David Beckham at Upton Park and I’m still a bit confused as to why he never signed for the club. I thought it nailed on that he was signing because he was there, watching West Ham. Surely it had nothing to do with the fact West Ham were playing Beckham’s beloved Man United that day. It definitely wasn’t the only reason he was there.
Just like it Kudus’ reasons for being at the Emirates are more likely to involve watching his mate and fellow Ghana international Thomas Partey. No, that would be too obvious. He’s guaranteed to be a Gunner within the next 12 months because of this.
The naivety of football fans never fails to amaze me.
In all seriousness, though, it really wouldn’t surprise me if he did and that Arsenal were already trying to tap him up. They did it with Declan Rice after all, with rumours coming from very credible inside sources at the time suggesting Rice was out having dinner with Mikel Arteta just months before he eventually joined the club, slap bang in the middle of our relegation battle.
Classy club.
Meanwhile, Kudus is also preparing for the visit of Ipswich at London Stadium this weekend and after what happened on Saturday, where Lopetegui admitted he was more impressed with his side’s second-half performance, when the winger was no longer involved.
What that means for Kudus’ chances of starting against Ipswich on Saturday remains to be seen. He isn’t the only player this season who has been performing well below their peak abilities, especially in attack.
But if a move to Arsenal is on the cards, perhaps he’ll be left out all together…