By Sam Stone

6th Jul, 2022 | 6:10am

West Ham United: Amadou Onana bid surely means Tomas Soucek days are numbered

West Ham United have reportedly bid for Lille midfielder Amadou Onana and that could mean the end for Tomas Soucek after his latest contract negotiations.

It was reported by Claret and Hugh (5 July) that a meeting between Karren Brady, David Moyes and Soucek’s representatives did not go as planned and that an exit looks “inevitable” for the Czech midfielder.

According to Sky Sports journalist Dharmesh Sheth (3 July) the Hammers had a £19.7million bid rejected for Onana with the club potentially returning with another offer.

It appears that the club are preparing for a potential midfield departure with their links to the Lille midfielder.

Soucek seems the obvious candidate after his sub-par 2021/22 campaign, coupled with contract negotiations stalling.

The club clearly want to add to their midfield, but spending nearly £20million would indicate that Moyes sees Onana as a starter in his West Ham plans and therefore take Soucek’s spot in the starting eleven.

It appears as if the Hammers are getting nowhere in their negotiations with the 27-year-old Czech international and at this point, they should accept his London Stadium exit is near.

Soucek has been a good servant for the club but doesn’t have the quality to take the Hammers to the next level and it’s clear that Moyes wants to surround Declan Rice with a higher calibre of player.

Moyes isn’t working with an unlimited budget this summer so potentially offloading the midfielder to free up space in his wage budget could be a wise move.

The exit certainly looks close for Soucek at present.