{"id":21336,"date":"2026-07-25T16:24:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T16:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=21336"},"modified":"2026-07-25T16:24:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T16:24:50","slug":"summerville-puts-friend-kudus-to-shame-as-he-speaks-out-on-leaving-west-ham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=21336","title":{"rendered":"Summerville puts friend Kudus to shame as he speaks out on leaving West Ham"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"post-323868\">\n<div class=\"article-follow\">\n<div class=\"article-sharing google-follow\">  <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"28\" height=\"28\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hammers.news\/wp-content\/themes\/grv-media\/img\/google-discover.svg\" alt=\"\"\/> <span>Add as preferred source on Google<\/span>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Crysencio Summerville has broken his silence on his departure from West Ham a year after his close friend Mohammed Kudus angered fans with the way he handled his own exit.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When West Ham signed Mohammed Kudus the club accepted he would not be sticking around long.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-grvmedia-grv-video GRVMultiVideo\"\/>\n<p>The Ghanaian very much saw the Hammers as a stepping stone when they paid Ajax \u00a338m for him.<\/p>\n<p>Kudus was so confident he would move on to one of Europe\u2019s elite he demanded an \u00a385m release clause in his West Ham contract when they beat a number of clubs to his signature, including Chelsea and Brighton.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-summerville-puts-friend-kudus-to-shame-over-west-ham-exit\">Summerville puts friend Kudus to shame over West Ham exit<\/h2>\n<p>When the Hammers went out and brought in a player of a very similar profile in Crysencio Summerville for \u00a326m the following summer, the grand plan was that he would ultimately take Kudus\u2019 place in the side.<\/p>\n<p>During their season together in east London, Summerville and Kudus became very close friends with the Ghanaian taking the Dutchman under his wing.<\/p>\n<section class=\"grv-talking-point\" data-trigger=\"vue-sidebar\" data-story-id=\"531c5ba0-5bdf-47f8-9b0e-16c952e5f977\" data-story-name=\"West Ham United transfers\" data-comment-id=\"77889114-1e5a-4677-b1d2-c43cc938f452\" data-story-slug=\"west-ham-united-transfers\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__inner\">\n<header class=\"grv-talking-point__header\">  <\/header>\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__content\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__cta\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__title-wrap\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__title-content\">\n<h3 class=\"grv-talking-point__title\">\u00a370m for Summerville! Where does this rank among West Ham\u2019s best-ever sales?<\/h3>\n<p class=\"grv-talking-point__subtitle\">Give us your immediate reaction!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__embed\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 991px) 100vw, 800px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2026\/07\/Crysencio-Summerville-stats-819x1024.png\" alt=\"TOPSHOT - West Ham United's Dutch striker #07 Crysencio Summerville celebrates scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League football match between West Ham United and Sunderland at the London Stadium in east London on January 24, 2026.\" class=\"wp-image-323563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2026\/07\/Crysencio-Summerville-stats-819x1024.png 819w, https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2026\/07\/Crysencio-Summerville-stats-240x300.png 240w, https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2026\/07\/Crysencio-Summerville-stats-768x960.png 768w, https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2026\/07\/Crysencio-Summerville-stats-912x1140.png 912w, https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2026\/07\/Crysencio-Summerville-stats-600x750.png 600w, https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2026\/07\/Crysencio-Summerville-stats.png 1080w\"\/><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>That was illustrated when Summerville made a beeline for Kudus, who was sat behind the dugout as he was unavailable, to celebrate his first goal for West Ham.<\/p>\n<p>When West Ham came to sell Kudus last summer, he didn\u2019t have Europe\u2019s top clubs queueing up for his services as Spurs emerged as his only suitors.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 991px) 100vw, 800px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2181357340-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"West Ham United FC v Manchester United FC - Premier League\" class=\"wp-image-235429\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2181357340-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2181357340-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2181357340-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2181357340-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2181357340-1140x760.jpg 1140w, https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2181357340-750x500.jpg 750w\"\/><\/div><figcaption title=\"LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 27: Crysencio Summerville of West Ham United celebrates scoring his team's first goal with teammate Mohammed Kudus, who is observing a suspension after a red card against Tottenham Hotspur last week, during the Premier League match between West Ham United FC and Manchester United FC at London Stadium on October 27, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield\/Getty Images)\">Photo by Justin Setterfield\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>He then burned his bridges with Hammers fans by turning up late for training as he demanded to leave for Tottenham.<\/p>\n<p>When Kudus completed the move \u2013 for \u00a330m less than his release clause \u2013 he became the first player to transfer between the bitter rivals for nearly 15 years.<\/p>\n<p>He further angered West Ham supporters by saying he \u2018only wanted Spurs\u2019 and had \u2018Tottenham in his heart\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Kudus put out a very generic goodbye to West Ham on social media at the time, which summed up his attitude towards the club.<\/p>\n<p>That saw Kudus labelled \u2018Judus\u2019 by Hammers fans when he played against them last term as he flopped in his debut season with three goals before an injury midway through the campaign, which is still keeping him out of action to this day.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-summerville-s-classy-farewell-to-west-ham-after-65m-move\">Summerville\u2019s classy farewell to West Ham after \u00a365m move<\/h2>\n<p>After relegation, it was inevitable some top players would leave the London Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>Tottenham paid a whopping \u00a385m for Mateus Fernandes and wanted Summerville to join him.<\/p>\n<section class=\"grv-talking-point\" data-trigger=\"vue-sidebar\" data-story-id=\"a85343a8-e25c-46a0-bdd1-f1ea7f36392b\" data-story-name=\"Talk West Ham\" data-comment-id=\"4d432c58-ef61-4b64-b2f2-6d47739036e4\" data-story-slug=\"2026-27-season\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__inner\">\n<header class=\"grv-talking-point__header\">  <\/header>\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__content\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__cta\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__title-wrap\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__title-content\">\n<h3 class=\"grv-talking-point__title\">What is YOUR proudest moment as a West Ham fan? \ud83e\udd47<\/h3>\n<p class=\"grv-talking-point__subtitle\">Just the 50k season ticket renewals! Not bad for a relegated side\u2026<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__embed\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 991px) 100vw, 800px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2026\/07\/Nuno-season-tickets-819x1024.png\" alt=\"West Ham United's Portuguese head coach Nuno Esp\u00edrito Santo smiles on the final whistle of the English Premier League football match between West Ham United and Newcastle United at the London Stadium, in London on November 2, 2025. West Ham won the game 3-1.\" class=\"wp-image-323598\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2026\/07\/Nuno-season-tickets-819x1024.png 819w, https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2026\/07\/Nuno-season-tickets-240x300.png 240w, https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2026\/07\/Nuno-season-tickets-768x960.png 768w, https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2026\/07\/Nuno-season-tickets-912x1140.png 912w, https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2026\/07\/Nuno-season-tickets-600x750.png 600w, https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2026\/07\/Nuno-season-tickets.png 1080w\"\/><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>But Summerville snubbed Tottenham out of respect for the Hammers, which will ensure he gets a warm reception in the future from West Ham fans.<\/p>\n<p>Now that has been cemented further still.<\/p>\n<p>Because Summerville has put his friend Kudus to shame as he speaks out on leaving West Ham for the first time.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"672\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 991px) 100vw, 800px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2264852722-1024x672.jpg\" alt=\"Crysencio Summerville during Fulham v West Ham United - Premier League\" class=\"wp-image-304439\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2264852722-1024x672.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2264852722-300x197.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2264852722-768x504.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2264852722-1536x1008.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2264852722-1140x748.jpg 1140w, https:\/\/cdn1.hammers.news\/uploads\/25\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2264852722-750x492.jpg 750w\"\/><\/div><figcaption title=\"LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 4: West Ham United's Crysencio Summerville during the Premier League match between Fulham and West Ham United at Craven Cottage on March 4, 2026 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Rob Newell - CameraSport via Getty Images)\">Photo by Rob Newell \u2013 CameraSport via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Taking to his Instagram, Summerville has shown real class with his message to the club and its fans after sealing a \u00a365m move to Saudi side Al Hilal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDear Irons, this is the end of my time as a West Ham player,\u201d Summerville said alongside a video montage of highlights of his time at the club.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to thank the fans for the unbelievable support you have shown me over the last two seasons.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThrough the good times and the difficult ones, you were always there.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI also want to thank all my teammates and everyone in the coaching and backroom staff.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI couldn\u2019t have done it without you all. Wherever life and football take me, I will always be blowing bubbles in the air.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne love, Cry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And that, Mohammed Kudus, is how you conduct yourself.<\/p>\n<p>While Kudus will now forever be disliked by most West Ham fans, for Summerville it is a case of once a Hammer, always a Hammer.<\/p>\n<div class=\"see-more-wrapper lazy see-more-open see-more-blank extra-content\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.hammers.news\/news\/summerville-puts-friend-kudus-to-shame-as-he-speaks-out-on-leaving-west-ham\/none\" data-type=\"subscribe\">\n<div class=\"see-more subscribe\">\n<figure class=\"newsletter\">\n<div><svg class=\"loading\" width=\"118\" height=\"36\" viewbox=\"0 0 118 36\"><use href=\"#dots-svg\"\/><\/svg><\/p>\n<div class=\"signup\"><span class=\"hf\">Join Our Newsletter<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><script>grvLoadAnalytics = () => {(function(d,s,i){var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)(0),j=d.createElement(s);j.async=true;j.src=\"https:\/\/www.googletagmanager.com\/gtag\/js?id=\"+i;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(document,'script','G-YXV2JYYXJC');(function(d,s,i){if(!\/callback=in\/.test(window.location.search)){var e=d.createElement(s);var n=d.getElementsByTagName(s)(0);e.type=\"text\/javascript\";e.async=true;e.src=\"https:\/\/static.chartbeat.com\/js\/chartbeat.js\";n.parentNode.insertBefore(e,n);}})(document,\"script\",\"G-YXV2JYYXJC\");(function(){let s=document.createElement(\"script\");s.async=true;s.dataset.domain=\"hammers.news\/9EBwb0\";s.src=\"https:\/\/api.publytics.net\/js\/script.manual.ping.min.js\";document.getElementsByTagName(\"head\")(0).appendChild(s);})();if(!\/callback=in\/.test(window.location.search)){setTimeout(function(){!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=();t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0);s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');fbq('init','1190605555050698');fbq('track','PageView');fbq('track','ViewContent',{content_name:'Summerville puts friend Kudus to shame as he speaks out on leaving West Ham',content_category:'News',content_ids:(323868,\"crysencio-summerville\",\"mohammed-kudus\"),content_type:'post',});},3000);}}<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Add as preferred source on Google Crysencio Summerville has broken his silence on his departure&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}