West Ham United may look to sell Tomas Soucek in January, David Moyes must take action after display v Aston Villa
West Ham United midfielder Tomas Soucek is receiving several interest from top clubs in Europe but his display against Aston Villa on Sunday could well force David Moyes into a surprise action in January.
Unai Emery’s men ran out easy 4-1 winners in the clash at Villa Park, leaving them fifth in the table. The Hammers meanwhile dropped in the table following the hugely damaging loss, which will prove difficult to bounce back from.
Two goals from Douglas Luiz, Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey strikes compounded the Hammers to their third defeat of the campaign, leaving them languishing in ninth place in the Premier League table five points off their opponents.
Moyes deployed Soucek in the role in behind the out-of-form Michail Antonio on Sunday (22 October) after recently improved form, scoring four goals in his last six West Ham United games [SofaScore] before the game at Villa Park.
Such form has led to grand interest from elsewhere with his contract situation at the London Stadium uncertain.
Inter Milan are eager to sign the midfielder on a free transfer when his contract expires at the London Stadium at the end of the season [Corriere Dello Sport, 11 October] while Juventus are readying a low-ball offer for the Czech Republic international [CalcioMercato, 18 October] should his contract situation continue.
TEAMtalk reported on 9 September that the club are expected to make an announcement on his new deal shortly after club shareholder Daniel Kretinsky insisted on a new deal for the Czech Republic international.
However, it remains to be seen whether the Hammers will ramp up talks for Soucek in the coming months as his deal could have just six months remaining if it gets to January without any progress on his deal.
But after his dreadful performance against Aston Villa on Sunday, the West Ham United faithful could certainly feel that they need to move on from the Czech with Mohammed Kudus waiting patiently for consistent starts in his favoured number 10 role.
As per SofaScore, Soucek was absolutely nowhere to be seen at Villa Park, registering just 15 touches in his 66 minutes on the pitch, successfully completing just eight passes, recording zero key passes, having one shot off target and winning just one duel all game in an absent performance when Moyes needed him most.
There are certainly several calls from the Hammers fans to start Kudus right now and that could well force Moyes to axe Soucek and finally start the Ghanaian international.
With his contract situation still yet to be sorted out, it won’t be a surprise to see him sold in January to ensure the East Londoners receive some sort of fee for his services.
In other West Ham news, a Lucas Paqueta recall update has emerged amid the allegations aimed at him.