West Ham have seen a second bid rejected for Mohammed Kudus; the Ajax winger is open to the move to the London Stadium; the bid is understood to be worth €42m (£35.4m); Konstantinos Mavropanos has joined the club while Lucas Paqueta's move to Manchester City is completely off
Wednesday 23 August 2023 20:48, UK
West Ham United have had a second bid rejected by Ajax for midfielder Mohammed Kudus.
The bid for Kudus is understood to be worth €42m (£35.4m). West Ham remain interested and will discuss whether to go back in with an improved offer.
Sky Sports News understands that Kudus is open to the move to the London Stadium.
Ajax do not want to sell and Kudus has started both Eredivisie matches for the Dutch club this season - scoring in the opening game and providing an assist in the second.
Kudus, who is a Ghanaian international and featured for his country at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, has entered the final two years of his contract.
Meanwhile, West Ham have opened talks with Sevilla over the signing of striker Youssef En-Nesyri.
There is no formal bid yet for the Morocco international, who has entered the final two years of his contract.
West Ham have completed their deal for Greece defender Konstantinos Mavropanos.
The former Arsenal centre-back has moved to the London Stadium from Stuttgart on a £17m initial deal, with a further £2m in add-ons.
Mavropanos was at the London Stadium on Sunday afternoon to watch West Ham's 3-1 win over Chelsea.
Manchester City's £80m move to sign Lucas Paqueta from West Ham is off amid an FA betting investigation into the midfielder.
An £80m deal had been agreed in principle last week before West Ham were informed on Wednesday that the Brazil international was the subject of an FA investigation into alleged betting breaches.
There was a very small chance on Friday morning that the transfer could still go ahead but there is now no prospect of that happening. Sources close to the deal hope Paqueta's move to City might still happen in January.
The 25-year-old is due to be interviewed by the FA as part of their investigation and he denies any wrongdoing.
The investigation started when a larger than usual number of bets were placed in Brazil on Paqueta receiving a yellow card in West Ham's home game against Aston Villa on 12 March 2023.
Paqueta was shown a yellow card by referee Chris Kavanagh in the 70th minute of the 1-1 draw for a challenge on John McGinn.
Who will be on the move this summer ahead of the transfer window closing at 11pm on September 1 in England and midnight in Scotland?
Keep up to date with all the latest transfer news and rumours in our dedicated Transfer Centre blog on Sky Sports' digital platforms. You can also catch up with the ins, outs and analysis on Sky Sports News.
