Fabrizio Romano confirms Chelsea talks for explosive Tottenham ace and reveals why move collapsed

James Holland 12 Sep 2025 8:30 PM

Enzo Maresca and Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea

Chelsea were hoping to sign Mohammed Kudus from West Ham United during the summer transfer window, with Fabrizio Romano explaining why he joined rivals Tottenham Hotspur instead.

Kudus had been targeted by Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion before arriving at West Ham in August 2023. The Irons paid Ajax £38million to bring Kudus to the Premier League.

The versatile forward, who can play as a right winger or central attacking midfielder, went on to make 80 appearances for West Ham. Kudus became one of West Ham’s best players in that time, notching 19 goals and 13 assists.

He left the London Stadium in the summer, signing for Tottenham on a six-year deal.

Kudus had an £85m release clause in his contract, while West Ham rejected an initial £50m offer from Spurs before accepting an improved £55m bid.

But the Ghana ace could have been representing Chelsea this season instead.

After previously missing out on Kudus in 2023, Chelsea returned for him over the summer. They entered ‘negotiations’ for Kudus but could not convince West Ham on a player-plus-cash deal.

“I’m getting many questions today on what happened between Mohammed Kudus and Chelsea,” Romano said on his YouTube channel. “Kudus was a potential target for Chelsea at the beginning of the summer transfer window, but from what I’m hearing the deal was never really close.

“They tried, they negotiated. There was a conversation with West Ham, there was a conversation with the agents. Kudus was considered as one of the players who could have been part of the Chelsea project ready for the Club World Cup.

“But it was never something that was really close to being agreed because West Ham didn’t want to include a player in the deal. They preferred to do the deal with Tottenham.

“Kudus was more than enthusiastic to go to Tottenham because he trusts the project, he spoke to Thomas Frank. Thomas Frank was a really important factor in this story.

“Tottenham also offered what West Ham wanted in terms of [the] transfer fee. So not including players but just putting the money on the table and letting West Ham decide.

“This was probably the crucial factor, and also the player [was] more than happy to go to Tottenham. [He is] very happy about his start at Tottenham so far.”

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Tottenham ‘feared Chelsea hijack’

According to The Athletic, Spurs wanted guarantees from Kudus that he would join them in the summer as they ‘feared a Chelsea hijack’.

The 25-year-old subsequently ‘gave Spurs his word’ as he ‘felt he would get more playing time there’ than at Chelsea.

Kudus has got off to an exciting start at Spurs, playing all three of their Premier League games so far and registering two assists during the opening 3-0 win over Burnley.

While Chelsea missed out on Kudus, they did make several other additions to their forward line. Liam Delap, Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro, Alejandro Garnacho and Facundo Buonanotte all joined.

Estevao Willian is also competing for a starting spot under Enzo Maresca. Chelsea agreed a £29m deal for the Brazilian wonderkid in May last year and he continued his development at Palmeiras before moving to west London in August.