Competition for Tomas Soucek or a replacement for Declan Rice? West Ham is on the lookout for a Leeds star

West Ham’s defensive midfielders have unshakable confidence in manager David Moyes. Tomas Soucek has started 40 games for the Hammers this season, while his younger teammate Declan Rice has managed 38 games. An incredible workload, and this is far from the end of the season. Still, West Ham are reportedly on the lookout for an interesting signing at defensive midfielder.

It’s believed to be Leeds United’s Kalvin Phillips. The England international is having another really good season with one assist and almost 83% pass success rate. Phillips is above all a running, duelling, team player who has a huge radius of action.

Does this mean huge competition for one of the most exciting pair of defensive midfielders in the Premier League? If Phillips does indeed move to the London Stadium, it would add a big competitor to Soucek and Rico. Not to mention that the dreams of Alex King, who would love to finally break into the starting lineup, would be put to rest.

But that scenario is really unlikely. Leeds United want £60-70 million (approx. £1.8-2.06 billion) for their gem. That’s a sum that West Ham certainly won’t just pull out of their pocket.

The more likely scenario is that this transfer could happen in the event of Declan Rice’s departure. The 23-year-old England international has been tracked by big clubs for a long time and it is more than likely that the Hammers will not keep their ace forever.

Comparison by WhoScored

Phillips is typologically very similar to Rice. However, if we look at the WhoScored stats site, we can see that the current Hammers star is more successful in the Premier League.

Declan Rice has an average rating of 7.13 this season. Phillips is at 6.55, and Czech national team captain Tomas Soucek has a much better rating (7.06).

However, these values are also heavily skewed by team performances. After all, West Ham are 7th in the table and have won 14 games. Leeds are fighting for relegation and are in 16th place, winning half as many games as WHU.

Source: WhoScored, Transfermarkt, West Ham Central