{"id":134222,"date":"2025-05-26T21:21:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T21:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/134222\/"},"modified":"2025-05-26T21:21:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T21:21:09","slug":"mohammed-kudus-and-lucas-paquetas-bizarre-west-ham-farewells-sum-up-woeful-seasons-as-new-era-beckons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/134222\/","title":{"rendered":"Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta’s bizarre West Ham farewells sum up woeful seasons as new era beckons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta both said their goodbyes to West Ham in strange fashion but in keeping with the woeful seasons each of them endured.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Any team, whether you are Manchester City or West Ham United<\/a>, is always reliant on its best players performing.<\/p>\n

Man City virtually fell apart without Rodri and with Kevin De Bruyne\u2019s powers fading.<\/p>\n

In Mohammed Kudus<\/a> and Lucas Paqueta<\/a>, West Ham had two of the most naturally gifted talents in all of Europe, let alone the Premier League<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But you wouldn\u2019t know it watching the Hammers this season.<\/p>\n

Issues on and off the pitch have meant neither Kudus or Paqueta has been anywhere near the levels they are capable of for West Ham during a miserable campaign.<\/p>\n

Kudus was amazing for the club in his debut season, providing 20 goals and assists and compiling his own goal of the season competition with some stunning strikes.<\/p>\n

The Ghanaian\u2019s \u00a385m release clause looked far too cheap off the back of his performances as he scored a Diego Maradona-esque goal in the Europa League.<\/p>\n

But this season he has struggled badly, falling out with Julen Lopetegui and scoring just five goals \u2013 one of which came in the 3-1 win at Ipswich on the final day.<\/p>\n

Kudus was dropped for the game.<\/p>\n

That would have been unthinkable a year ago but that neatly sums up where the 24-year-old is at right now.<\/p>\n

West Ham should be lighting up Europe with Paqueta and Kudus<\/p>\n

Banned for five games after his red card and head loss at Spurs, Kudus admitted he was struggling to deal with the pressure of being Ghana\u2019s shining light<\/a> during a horrendous year for the Black Stars which saw them drop out of the African Nations and then fail to qualify for the next one.<\/p>\n

In an ideal world, this would go down as an off-season for Kudus and West Ham would continue to build around a player who is clearly an immense talent.<\/p>\n

But PSR dictates otherwise and West Ham have to sell Kudus this summer.<\/p>\n

The fee Kudus will fetch will likely be nowhere near that \u00a385m release clause, which was inserted in his contract at the player\u2019s request to prevent West Ham from blocking a move if a top club came calling and were willing to pay.<\/p>\n

Kudus has seen his body language and attitude questioned.<\/p>\n

But statistics show he has always worked hard for the team even if his goal threat has diminished by three quarters this season.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPhoto by Rob Newell \u2013 CameraSport via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Paqueta\u2019s issues are much more widely publicised.<\/p>\n

The spot-fixing case against him has taken its toll, culminating in the Brazilian bursting into tears after being booked against Spurs recently.<\/p>\n

He too was named on the bench at Ipswich, getting on in the second half for what will also be his last action in the claret and blue.<\/p>\n

Paqueta has just five goals and one assist to his name this season for the Hammers.<\/p>\n

Simply put that is nowhere near good enough for a player of his quality \u2013 by any stretch of the imagination.<\/p>\n

With Kudus and Paqueta alongside the likes of Jarrod Bowen, West Ham should be up competing for Europe.<\/p>\n

Their poor form \u2013 not helped of course by a drop in standards right across the club over the last 18 months \u2013 put paid to any hope of that.<\/p>\n

Now Kudus and Paqueta\u2019s bizarre West Ham farewells sum up their woeful seasons as a new era beckons.<\/p>\n

Graham Potter<\/a> has made it clear he is planning big changes this summer.<\/p>\n

Kudus and Paqueta\u2019s bizarre West Ham farewells sum up woeful seasons<\/p>\n

Six players are already on their way and could be followed by Michail Antonio.<\/p>\n

Kudus and Paqueta \u2013 if he beats the case against him \u2013 will be sold along with a number of others to raise funds for at least five signings.<\/p>\n

Potter will be building around youth.<\/p>\n

But it was a shame \u2013 although inescapably fitting \u2013 that Paqueta and Kudus bowed out the way they did at Portman Road.<\/p>\n

Kudus came on and scored the kind of goal which was a regular occurrence last season and during his time at Ajax.<\/p>\n

The celebration \u2013 or lack of one \u2013 summed up how things are ending for Kudus at West Ham.<\/p>\n

He may well have simply been miffed at having been dropped or embarrassed to celebrate too much given how bad he has been for most of the season.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPhoto by Richard Pelham\/Getty ImagesMuted goodbyes for Kudus and Paqueta are a sad sight<\/p>\n

West Ham fans have been critical of the fact Kudus\u2019 best performances have come away at so-called top clubs. There was always a nagging feeling he was peacocking for a move.<\/p>\n

Deep down most West Ham fans know Kudus is probably going to be a big hit wherever he goes next \u2013 be it Liverpool, Arsenal or Saudi.<\/p>\n

Jamie Carragher thinks Kudus is partly to blame for West Ham\u2019s poor season<\/a> \u2013 but believes he still deserves a move to a better team.<\/p>\n

In fairness, Kudus probably will flourish around better players. Selling him is a necessary evil and may just be for the best \u2013 for all concerned.<\/p>\n

Paqueta meanwhile detached himself from the rest of the West Ham squad and stood alone away from the group as he clapped fans.<\/p>\n

Teammates eventually pushed him towards supporters to say a proper farewell.<\/p>\n

This might not just be Paqueta\u2019s last game for the Hammers, but his last game full stop.<\/p>\n

If he is found guilty of spot-fixing, the FA are pushing for Paqueta to be banned for life. If cleared, then the \u00a3150k per week star will be sold.<\/p>\n

West Ham and Paqueta will always have that<\/strong> pass which set Bowen on his way to win the club\u2019s only major trophy of the last 45 years.<\/p>\n

But he probably hasn\u2019t reached his true potential in east London given the Brazil international is one of the best players in the Premier League on his day.<\/p>\n

New era beckons as Potter puts focus back on being a team<\/p>\n

It shouldn\u2019t be ending like this for players of Paqueta and Kudus\u2019 talents at West Ham.<\/p>\n

Scraping to 14th place with a last day win at already relegated Ipswich having had zero jeopardy to the season since January.<\/p>\n

It is a sad ending.<\/p>\n

But it shows what happens when you rely on talented individuals over the team in a team sport.<\/p>\n

Now Potter is looking to usher in a new era where the team is the be all and end all. <\/p>\n

\u201cI hate relying on individuals,\u201d were among Potter\u2019s last words before heading into one of the club\u2019s most important summer windows of the Premier League era.<\/p>\n

Kudus and Paqueta are cautionary tales of what happens when a club does just that.<\/p>\n

The saving grace for West Ham has been that the one individual they can always rely on \u2013 Bowen \u2013 does it week in, week out.<\/p>\n

It feels daunting that the Hammers will only have him of their \u201cbig three\u201d next season.<\/p>\n

But fans should embrace Potter\u2019s focus on team over individuals.<\/p>\n

Because it is the only way to build sustainable success at a club like West Ham.<\/p>\n

Just ask David Moyes.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta both said their goodbyes to West Ham in strange fashion but in keeping…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":134223,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[94,782,59009,1448,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-134222","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-graham-potter","10":"tag-lucas-paqueta","11":"tag-mohammed-kudus","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}