Alex King’s journey to West Ham: A change of position, a Russian anabasis or the help of a Czech duo

Will West Ham be a bastion of Czech players, like Pittsburgh was in the past? So far, it seems so. Alex Král is a fresh acquisition of West Ham. The Czech midfielder comes on a one-year loan with a mandatory option. The English club will now have a triple Czech representation. What is the story of Alex Kral?

King showed his quality at a very young age. Already at the age of 19, he made his way into the Teplice squad, and as a stopper he was a key member of the Czech club’s team. During his three-year engagement there he scored a total of 43 starts. He was then signed by Slávia Prague. It was the transfer to the best Czech team of today that was a very important milestone in his career.

At Slavia, he immediately broke into the starting line-up and continued to grow in performance under coach Trpišovský. Interestingly, it was here that a key change of position took place. He left the position of a stopper for good and started to play only as a defensive shield.

This proved to be a great decision and King’s performances attracted the interest of several European clubs.

His engagement in the jersey of Slavia did not last too long, after only half a year he moved to another engagement, for 310 million crowns he was acquired by Russian Spartak Moscow. The talented midfielder managed to make his way in the tough Russian competition. The physical demands of the league suited him and soon he was one of the mainstays of the team.

He then earned an invitation to the Czech national team. In the Czech Lion’s jersey, he soon became one of the stable members of the national team. King eventually spent a successful 2 years in a Spartak jersey, making a total of 53 starts. King’s big dream was a move to the Premier League, the only question was when it would happen.

The interest of English clubs in King has been speculated in the past. However, the Czech midfielder had a bad recent European Championship and it didn’t look like he would be leaving Spartak in the summer.

At the end of the transfer window, West Ham did commit to signing him and the decision was made. It is quite possible that our Czech duo Soucek-Coufal had a big part in this decision.

West Ham were very active in this transfer window. King became the fifth signing of the English team. During the summer transfer period the club acquired Dawson, Areola, Zouma, Vlasic and King. The Hammers also had a great start to the new season. In 3 games they have gained 7 points and are basking in the 2nd place of the Premier League.

Source: Fabrizio Romano