Mohammed Kudus: I can’t wait for AFCON to start

Ghana star Mohammed Kudus has expressed his eagerness to have his first minutes in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

The West Ham United forward is one of the highly-rated players heading into the tournament in the Ivory Coast, where the Black Stars are paired against Egypt, Mozambique and Cape Verde in Group B.

Kudus and his country will be hoping to do better than they did two years ago when they suffered a disappointing exit at the group stage.

The 23-year-old missed the last edition of the tournament in Cameroon and says he cannot wait for the 2023 AFCON to kickstart.

“Hi Ghanaian fans, I’m happy to be here. And I can’t wait for the tournament to start. Let’s go Ghana,” Kudus said during a photo shoot with CAF.

Meanwhile, Ghana will be going into AFCON in the Ivory Coast with the fifth most valuable squad in the tournament.

This is according to a compilation by the UK’s Bettingsites.co.uk on the market values of players in all 24 competing teams.

Nigeria leads the way with the most valuable squad at the AFCON, totalling €349 million. This is helped by the huge transfer value of Napoli striker Victor Osimhen.

Osimhen is currently valued at €110 million, which is more than the values of 14 of the teams competing in the AFCON.

FIFA World Cup semi-finalists Morocco are second on the list of teams with the most valuable squad with a squad valued at €347.4 million.

Hosts Ivory Coast have a squad worth €334.58 million, while defending champions Senegal’s squad is worth €274.4 million.

Ghana is fifth on the list of most valuable squads at the AFCON, with Mohammed Kudus being the Black Stars’ most valuable player with a market value of €45 million.

The top 10 most expensive squads in the AFCON are completed by Algeria, Cameroon, Mali, Egypt and DR Congo in that order.

The Black Stars will begin their AFCON campaign against Cape Verde on Sunday.

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