West Ham United midfielder Tomas Soucek has just made a truly staggering admission.
West Ham signed Tomas Soucek on loan from Slavia Prague in January 2020, before making his deal a permanent one six months later.
The Hammers paid around £17.6 million to bring the 29-year-old to the London Stadium and on the whole, he’s been a very good player for us.
He has bagged 32 goals and 11 assists in 207 games in all competitions for West Ham – a decent return indeed.
However, Soucek has been heavily linked with an exit from the London Stadium over the past year or so, due to a really poor run of form.
He has never let the Hammers down, but his limitations when in possession are obvious for everyone to see.
Soucek held us back in transition so many times last season, and was a key factor behind our inability to hit our opponents hard and fast on the counter.
So does he have any kind of future under a manager who insists on a slow patient build-up through the middle of the pitch?
Tomas Soucek admission will leave West Ham fans stunned
The former Slavia Prague man was a key figure for the Hammers during David Moyes’s reign at the London Stadium.
However, there are question marks regarding whether he will hold the same importance with Lopetegui at the helm.
Soucek sat down to speak with whfc .com whilst out in America on our pre-season tour of Florida.
The big Czech Republic international spoke about the upcoming season ahead under Lopetegui, and made a truly stunning claim.
“It’s true that sometimes people don’t see or don’t appreciate all of the work I try to do on the ball,” he observed. “They speak about me about goals or assists, but that’s not all I want to do.”
“I have a different role with Czech Republic than I did before at West Ham, and it’s similar to the role I had at Slavia Prague, so I love this role,” he continued. “It’s a lot with the ball, I like to play from the goalkeepers and be the heart of the team, so that’s what I love.”
Well Tomas, I’m sorry to break it to you, but you will never be a player who’s comfortable in possession.
Nor will you be the Hammers’ go-to midfielder when our goalkeeper is looking for someone to pass to.
As harsh as this may sound, West Ham United’s Tomas Soucek is arguably the worst Premier League midfielder I have ever seen with the ball at his feet.
His 75.7% pass completion rate in the Premier League last season tells us all we need to know, and he’s hardly the type of player to attempt 50-yard diagonals on the regular!
The way that Lopetegui likes his teams to pass out from the back and on into midfield means that the 29-year-old will not play a crucial role for us this season and beyond, as far as I’m concerned.
Maybe I’ll be proven wrong, but I just can’t see it, and I’m hugely surprised that Soucek even suggested that he’s a player who’s comfortable in possession.
I fully expect to see Lopetegui go out this summer and sign an energetic and dynamic central midfielder who loves the ball at his feet and can pick a pass.
An upgrade on Soucek will be a necessity if West Ham are to make some genuine progress.
West Ham United play-maker Lucas Paqueta clearly faces a very uncertain future at the London Stadium.
Not only is he still at risk of being banned from football for life because of his alleged involvement in a betting scam, but he’s at the centre of numerous transfer rumours as well.
Lucas Paqueta joined West Ham from Lyon in the summer of 2022.
Signed for an initial £36.5 million plus a potential £14.4 million in add-ons (BBC), Paqueta has thrilled the Hammers fans consistently, but he has frustrated at times as well.
The Brazilian is clearly an exceptional footballer, but he has problems right now, there’s no denying that.
It emerged last summer that he was being investigated for his role in potential betting breaches, and he has now been charged for those alleged offences.
Paqueta is currently out in Brazil and Hammers director of football Tim Steidten has flown out there to gauge where he’s at right now.
With the 26-year-old not due to return to pre-season training with West Ham for around another week or so, his situation remains very up in the air.
Will he still be a Hammer at the start of next season? Or will he leave for pastures new?
West Ham star Lucas Paqueta holds meeting with mega-rich club
So the former Lyon man’s name has cropped up numerous times in reports concerning potential summer exits from the London Stadium.
Brazilian side Flamengo are said to be ‘determined to sign Paqueta immediately’, but they quite clearly will not be able to afford him.
The West Ham owners may well want to cut their losses on the 26-year-old, but I still expect them to demand at least £30 million for him this summer.
There is a club out there who definitely could afford that kind of money, and a big update has just come to light regarding their interest in signing Paqueta.
According to a report from Rudy Galetti, Saudi club Al-Nassr have actually just held a meeting with Paqueta about a summer transfer.
Now, if that is true, it would mean that the Hammers have accepted a fee for the South American from the Saudi club.
I have to dispute that because nothing has been reported confirming anything remotely resembling West Ham accepting an official offer for Lucas Paqueta.
I’m choosing to take this one with a pinch of salt.
However, that’s not to say that I wouldn’t be shocked if Paqueta did end up leaving the London Stadium this summer.
If the correct offer is made, I believe West Ham will be keen to cash in on him.
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