Kudus‘ arrival to West Ham from Ajax has been met with a lot of high praise. The Ghanaian midfielder has hit the ground running under David Moyes, despite a steady integration in the team, scoring four goals in the twelve matches he’s played thus far.

Following difficult defeats to Aston Villa and Everton in the league since the end of the last international break, as well as the Hammers’ unbeaten European run coming to an end at the hands of Olympiacos, West Ham were hoping to bounce back with a win – and win they certainly did.

Kudus scored a magnificent goal in West Ham’s 3-1 win over Arsenal in the Carabao Cup, taking down a beautifully placed ball by Nayef Aguerd and slotting it through the legs of Gabriel and past Aaron Ramsdale for the Hammers’ second of the night. For sure a standout moment in the match, though a stunning performance all-round that deserves to be noticed.

The new No14 told West Ham TV, ‘It was a very important victory. The past week had been very difficult for us, so to win and to win big and for us to get some balls in the net was important.

‘Of course, we knew we were playing a very good side, so we knew we had to be tactically disciplined and very strong defensively. You could see we had to defend a lot because they had a lot of the ball, but we were still effective with the part of the ball we had.

‘We’ve been putting a lot of effort into it in training, so it was good to see it work.’

Whether it was tracking back to defend, helping build-ups, showing off the flair side of his game or his stellar decision making, Kudus‘ impact goes further than the goal he scored, and West Ham fans will be hoping to see more of him in the coming weeks as he breaks his way into the squad. A partnership with Jarrod Bowen leading the line looks to be a possiblity that Moyes could explore.

However, a start against Brentford this Saturday may be in jeopardy due to the yellow-card suspensions of Edson Alvarez and Lucas Paqueta against Everton. These suspensions only last one game, though could prompt David Moyes to start Michail Antonio instead.

By Joe Murray