The Hammers have been pushing hard to snap up Kudus and their technical director Tim Steidten flew out to Amsterdam earlier this week.
He held talks with Ajax and there was a level of confidence that a deal to take Kudus to England would be done.
Now though West Ham have suffered a setback as the offer put in to Ajax has been rejected.
Ajax do not view the proposal from West Ham as reflecting Kudus’ value and are not of a mind to accept it.
The ball is now firmly in West Ham’s court to come back with a higher offer to convince Ajax to sell Kudus.
Kudus would like to depart Ajax this summer, but the club would rather keep hold of him.
He has a contract with the Dutch giants which runs until 2025, but has rejected an extension to that.
