West Ham go to bitter rivals Spurs on Saturday and having an in-form Mohammed Kudus could be key to getting the victory.
West Ham take on Tottenham Hotspur when the Premier League resumes this weekend.
Yet another international break has seen top stars from the Hammers and Tottenham jet off all over the world to represent their countries.
Spurs have already been dealt a couple of blows with their current best player Brennan Johnson coming off injured for Wales.
Meanwhile Lucas Bergvall was forced to withdraw from Sweden’s squad according to The Evening Standard.
It also remains to be seen whether Son Heung-Min and Richarlison will be available for Tottenham against the Hammers.
West Ham have their own issue with summer striker signing Niclas Fullkrug still out with an Achilles and calf injury.
It seems extremely unlikely the big German forward will now make it back for the Spurs game.
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The Hammers have also been coy on claims Fullkrug may require an operation.
Fresh disaster for Hammers star Kudus
One thing is for certain, Julen Lopetegui will need star boy Mohammed Kudus and the likes of Jarrod Bowen in top form if West Ham are to come away from Tottenham with a result.
Kudus has had a tough time of it this season.
He finally scored his first goal of the campaign in the 4-1 win over Ipswich before the break. That came after a bust-up with Lopetegui which saw him subbed off at half-time of the match before.
The Hammers ace was named captain of Ghana for their double header with Sudan in AFCON qualifying.
The Black Stars could only draw 0-0 last week, prompting a backlash from the country’s passionate fans.
Some of whom claimed Kudus – who missed a sitter in the game – has been cursed after being handed the number 10 shirt.
Now there’s fresh disaster for Kudus and West Ham hope his return isn’t delayed ahead of Spurs.
West Ham eyes have been fixed on Ghana’s reverse fixture against Sudan on Tuesday.
Ghana needed to win to have any hope of qualifying for the next AFCON.
But Kudus once again missed chances as the Black Stars lost 2-0 to make some unwelcome history.
West Ham hope star boy’s return isn’t delayed ahead of Spurs
For the first time in 20 years Ghana won’t qualify for the African Nations.
While that is a crying shame for Kudus, West Ham’s focus has immediately turned to getting the 24-year-old back to east London as soon as possible.
There were already concerns about this game as Sudan are playing their matches in Libya due to conflict in their own country.
It made world news this week that Nigeria’s players decided to boycott their own AFCON qualifier against Libya – in Libya – after being stranded at an airport in the country for 16 hours with no food or drink.
The team called it “mind games” and it came as The Super Eagles squad was expected to land at Benghazi Airport on Sunday only for the charter flight to be diverted to Al Abraq, 200km away, with no alternative transport offered.
Captain William Troost-Ekong said no reason was given for the change, adding that the airport’s gates had been locked and the group had been left “without phone connection, food or drink. All to play mind games”.
But after being stranded there for more than 16 hours, he said he and the team had “decided that we will not play this game,” adding that “mistakes happen, but these things on purpose have nothing to do with international football”.
No special West Ham arrangements for Kudus yet
Hammers News has been told West Ham are understandably keeping an eye on Kudus with the huge match against Spurs fast approaching.
Although at the time of writing, sources have confirmed to Hammers News that no special arrangements have been made to try and ensure the club get their star boy back ASAP on a private jet.
West Ham can pile the pressure on Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou with a win.
The Hammers will go above Spurs in the table if they take all three points.
Kudus being available and ready will be key to their hopes of that.