JUST ten players amassed 300+ points in Dream Team last season.
Mohammed Kudus (£5m) was among that elite group and yet he currently features in just 5.5% of teams ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
Granted, there are several quality options in midfield but surely West Ham’s talisman deserves to be more popular?
Kudus averaged 6.7 points-per-game in 2023/24, a rate superior to that of Martin Odegaard (£5m), Anthony Gordon (£4.5m), Rodri (£4.5m) and several other widely-selected players in his position.
Kudus scored 13 goals and provided nine assists in all competitions last term – an impressive return considering he missed some of the campaign due to AFCON commitments.
But what made the Ghana star such a successful asset was his ability to earn bonus points.
Kudus amassed 70 bonus points when all was said and done, a tally only bettered by Bruno Guimaraes (£4.5m) among all players.
The primary reason for his mammoth total was his exceptional dribbling ability.
Bonus points are determined by player performance marks which can be earned through several actions – read more about the scoring system here – with successful dribbles being one such avenue.
Kudus registered a whopping 150 successful dribbles last season.
To put that figure into perspective, Jeremy Doku (£4m) was the only other player to reach triple figures – the Manchester winger notched 132.
To put it plainly, Kudus’ dribbling is off the charts, as the London Stadium faithful will gladly confirm.
And that’s not all, the 24-year-old doesn’t shirk his defensive responsibilities either.
Kudus made 94 tackles last season, the 13th highest tally among midfielders – that’s a great effort for somebody who is primarily a attack-minded threat.
Goals, assists, bonus points, tackles… he ticks a lot of boxes.
One of the possible reasons Kudus’ ownership is relatively low is the Premier League fixture list.
The Hammers are due to face Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Manchester City before the end of August in what appears to be a testing start to the campaign.
That being said, Kudus produced healthy hauls against many of the top teams last season.
West Ham won’t have European fixtures to bolster their schedule in 2024/25 which reduces the viability of their assets.
But that isn’t a factor until September, when the group stages of the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League get underway.
If approximately 95% of gaffers are set to go without Kudus as the Gameweek 1 deadline nears, he would be a hugely appealing differential option.
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