West Ham United has given Mohammed Kudus back his wooden elephant seat, enabling the Ghanaian forward to continue his customary celebration after breaking his scoring drought for Tottenham Hotspur.
After a £55 million summer transfer, the 25-year-old made his first appearance at the London Stadium on Saturday, but Spurs won 3-0 and he left empty-handed in front of goal.
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Throughout the afternoon, Kudus faced a cold greeting from the home support. The winger, who joined the Hammers from Ajax in 2023 and scored 19 goals in 80 games, was jeered at every turn.
A ball boy in the Bobby Moore Stand once refused to give him the match ball before he took a corner kick, illustrating the tension.
Kudus played a significant role in Spurs’ assault even if he missed a late opportunity to score his first goal.
He took the opportunity to thank the non-playing West Ham employees near the family enclosure area after the final whistle, and he was given back his cherished stool.
Since Kudus revealed the wooden seat in a 1-1 tie with Brighton in 2023, it has come to represent his identity.
Like other players, he would first sit on the perimeter boards, but he quickly moved to the stool that the stewards and ball boys had borrowed.
“It’s a special stool, a stool from Ghana,” Kudus told West Ham’s media team. “Where I come from, the chiefs and the kings sit on stools … I thought it would be nice to share a little bit of life where I am from.”
