West Ham: In-form £65k-a-week star may now be 'willing to leave' London Stadium

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·4 October 2023

West Ham: In-form £65k-a-week star may now be 'willing to leave' London Stadium

Highlights

West Ham United star Tomas Soucek could look to embark on a fresh challenge despite enjoying a productive start to the season.
Although it has been reported that the central midfielder has extended his contract, it has not been confirmed by the Hammers.
Soucek has scored three goals and registered an assist in his opening eight appearances of the campaign.

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West Ham United star Tomas Soucek 'may be willing to leave' the London Stadium in the coming months after a key reason has emerged, journalist Paul Brown has told GIVEMESPORT.

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The Czech Republic international has played a pivotal role in David Moyes' Hammers building on their Europa Conference League glory at the end of last season by starting the new campaign in positive form.

Soucek appears to have committed his long-term future to West Ham as, according to The Athletic, he penned a four-year contract in August which ties him down to the capital club until the summer of 2027.

But the central midfielder signing on the dotted line has not been confirmed by the Hammers, which has led to uncertainty over whether he could head onto pastures new as his £65,000-per-week agreement had been due to expire in less than 12 months.

Transfer insider Dean Jones previously told GIVEMESPORT that selling Soucek would have been a 'nightmare' scenario for West Ham as they opted to offload the talismanic Declan Rice in a £105million deal to Arsenal in July.

But the 28-year-old has remained on the east Londoners' books for now and, despite being forced to contend with losing his long-term partner in the heart of Moyes' midfield, he has been in impressive form and racked up four goal contributions in eight appearances this term.

Soucek has admitted that his eye-catching performances on the pitch have come after he allowed his standards to drop last season, conceding that a lack of motivation could be a reason for some underwhelming displays.

He has started to show signs that he is returning to the form he enjoyed when he first joined West Ham on loan from Slavia Prague on loan, which led to his current employers forking out more than £18million to make the switch permanent in July 2020.

Soucek could look to embark on fresh challenge away from West Ham - Paul Brown

Brown believes there is a possibility of Soucek opting to bring the curtain down on his West Ham career, with a fresh challenge potentially being attractive at this stage of his career.

Although the former Viktoria Zizkov man has been one of the first names on the team-sheet during the early stages of the campaign, Brown feels Moyes' summer acquisitions could force him out of the starting XI and result in a rethink over his future.

The respected journalist told GIVEMESPORT:

"I think West Ham will certainly still talk to Soucek about a new contract. I kind of get the impression that he may be willing to leave the club though, and see what else there might be around for him in the next couple of windows. I think it will depend on just how keen both sides are to keep that relationship going. "He has probably played a bit more this season than most people thought, given the amount of signings they made in that area. They do have players that came in who don't know the league and are still adapting and getting settled. "Once that adaptation period is over, is he still expecting to be a regular starter or would he gradually be phased out once the players they signed are all fully up to speed? It's difficult to know, but I'm not convinced that Soucek will be at West Ham next season."

£38m Moyes signing could force Soucek out of starting line-up

Moyes bolstered his attacking options by splashing out £38million, according to Sky Sports, in order to tempt Eredivisie giants Ajax into selling Mohammed Kudus during the final days of the summer transfer window.

Although the Ghanaian's game time has been limited since his arrival in east London, having been restricted to just 237 minutes of action heading into Thursday's Europa League group stage meeting with German side Freiburg, it is unlikely that he will be on the periphery for an extensive period after West Ham spent big.

Lucas Paqueta has been forced onto the left-hand side due to Moyes looking to bring summer additions Edson Alvarez and James Ward-Prowse, who joined in deals worth £35.4million and £30million respectively, into the heart of the midfield alongside Soucek.

But, having forked out a club-record fee of £51million to sign Paqueta from Lyon last year, the playmaker is expected to return to the middle of the park rather than dropping to the bench when Kudus is eventually handed a regular starting berth.

It means the attacking midfielder's arrival could result in Soucek, who has racked up 90 goal contributions over the course of his senior club career, dropping out of the first XI.