West Ham United's Czech midfielder Tomas Soucek celebrates after scoring a goal during the English Premier League football match between Newcastle United and West Ham United at St James' Park in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, north east England on July 5, 2020. (Photo by OWEN HUMPHREYS / POOL / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by OWEN HUMPHREYS has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [during the English Premier League football match between Newcastle United and West Ham United at St James' Park in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, north east England on July 5, 2020. ] instead of [kick off of the English FA Cup quarter-final football match between Norwich City and Manchester United at Carrow Road in Norwich, eastern England on June 27, 2020]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry for the inconvenience this notification may cause and remain at your disposal for any further information you may require. (Photo by OWEN HUMPHREYS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
According to Football.london, on-loan midfielder Tomas Soucek is desperate to make a permanent move to West Ham when his loan spell expires at the end of the season.
Soucek, 25, came through Slavia Prague’s youth ranks and made 158 appearances for the club’s senior team, scoring 40 goals and providing 14 assists. He had previously played for clubs like Viktoria Zizkov and Slovan Liberec before moving to East London with West Ham in January on another loan spell.
Since his arrival in England, the midfielder has been in sensational form, except for the injury he picked up in between. He put in some impressive displays against Liverpool and Manchester City before the suspension of the league. Thus, the manager should consider taking him on board permanently this summer.
With the season coming to an end, Moyes needs to bring in reinforcements to several key areas if they are to progress next season. And one area the manager needs to focus on strengthening is the midfield. Declan Rice, Mark Noble, Jack Wilshere and Soucek are the four central midfielders available at the manager’s disposal.
Noble and Rice have done a decent job so far but Wilshere has been injured for the majority of the campaign. Thus, signing Soucek on a permanent basis would do them a world of good. The Czech Republic international has been in sensational form in recent months, especially after the enforced break.
The 25-year-old featured in 17 league games for Slavia Prague before his arrival in England. In the process, he scored 8 goals and provided 3 assists despite playing in a deep-lying role. And he has shown the ability to be a box-to-box midfielder under Moyes in the few games he has featured in England. He has also featured in all the 90 minutes of the last six games and has displayed his physical ability.
He is highly talented and has the ability to succeed in the Premier League given he is able to keep himself away from injuries. He is capable of playing various midfield roles and his versatile nature can be useful for the team in the years to come.
With Carlos Sanchez having left and Noble having little to offer in the future, West Ham are in dire need of young midfielders. And Soucek has already proven his worth in recent weeks. He could provide them with some much-needed depth in the middle of the park and could also be their leader in the future. Thus, the Londoners should sign him permanently this summer.
