Mohammed Kudus says that pre-season is and will continue to be both tough but beneficial for West Ham United, and insists he wants to take his game to new levels in 2024/25 under new Head Coach Julen Lopetegui.
Coming at the end of a week of hard work and double training sessions at altitude in the Austrian town of Kitzbühel, the Irons kicked-off Lopetegui’s tenure in charge with a 2-2 pre-season draw with Hungarian champions Ferencváros on Monday afternoon, where Kudus got a valuable first 45 minutes of the campaign under his belt.
The 23-year-old shone in midfield throughout his first season in England, appearing 48 times for the Hammers last term in all competitions, scoring 18 goals and providing seven assists.
Kudus, who completed 2023/24 as Europe’s most successful dribbler, scooped West Ham's Goal of the Season award for his incredible individual 70-yard run and finish in the 5-0 UEFA Europa League round of 16 second leg win over SC Freiburg at London Stadium in March, before capping off the campaign with a collector’s item overhead kick strike against Manchester City.
Now, Kudus and his teammates are ready to enjoy a change of pace that their pre-season schedule presents ahead of the fresh campaign.
West Ham face neighbours Dagenham & Redbridge of the National League on Saturday, before they cross the Atlantic Ocean to the United States to take on Premier League rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers and Crystal Palace in two exciting fixtures as part of the inaugural Stateside Cup.
“I’m looking forward to getting back out on the pitch against Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday, and then going out to America very much,” Kudus told whufc.com. Kick-off against the Daggers at Chigwell Construction Stadium is at 3pm and you can buy tickets HERE, or find details of how to stream the game live for £4.99 HERE.
“It is an important preparation for the new season and I’m really excited for it. I’ve heard America is a nice country, so that will be nice to experience as well.
“I’ve been once before, when we [Ghana] played an international game against the USA, but this time around I’m looking forward to spending more time there and preparing for the season ahead.
“They have a good atmosphere, the crowd is good and they have a lot of Ghanaians there as well, so that is always nice to see. I can’t wait [to meet the West Ham United USA fanbase] in America and hopefully I can give them some entertainment as well."
Kudus offered an insight into working under Lopetegui, and expressed how excited he is about the future under the Head Coach and his coaching staff.
The Hammers' No14 also spoke about how he has helped integrate new signings Maximilian Kilman, Wes Foderingham and Luis Guilherme into the squad, ensuring they received a similarly warm welcome to him 12 months ago, when he first arrived in east London.
"This is the difficult part of the season, but also the most important one because the preparation is important," Kudus confirmed.
"We had a good camp in Austria, the sun was out and we trained well together as a team. We’ve got some new players, but we have all connected well and have made them feel at home, just like everyone did when I got here last season. Pre-season has been smooth so far, and I’m enjoying it.
“His [Lopetegui's] style is how I want to play, how I want to attack as a winger and there is a lot of freedom, which allows me to do that. That is the most important thing for me - that I’m allowed to play how I want to. He has different tactics and a different style, but we are all working together to push the Club to the level where we want it to be.
“To start and announce myself, it was quite a good start for me personally [last season], but I believe I still have so much in me that I can still show to everyone. We will work on it and try to double how I performed last season and be even better going forward.
“Personally, I want to do better than I did last season with numbers and performances, but most importantly help the team get back into Europe and challenge for the top six. That’s what my personal goal is around, helping the team."
