Soucek will have two competitors if he sells Rice this summer. He could also pay for a change of formation at West Ham

If there’s one thing that works at West Ham and keeps the club above the relegation zone, it’s the midfield of Declan Rice – Tomas Soucek – Lucas Paquetá. All three are the Hammers’ highest rated players according to WhoScored, while they also cater for goals in addition to stability in the middle of the park. However, this may not be the case next year and probably won’t be.

However, the Czech midfielder is the weakest in this regard, with only one goal and one assist in the current Premier League season. Rice and Paqueta both have two goals and assists each.

Soucek, meanwhile, often goes to the whitewash to score headers. It was perfectly seen during Saturday’s game against Nottingham, when Vladimir Coufal sent him several centres there, but nothing came of it in the end.

However, the Czech back went off the field after half-time, David Moyes adjusted his tactics a little bit and it definitely brought success as the Hammers scored 4 goals in the second half, something they have not done this season.

The departure of Rice

No one can doubt that Rice will leave West Ham. The question is not if, but when. However, given the impending end of his contract with the London club, it is more than likely that it will happen this summer.

Journalist Dean Jones certainly has something to say about that, and he elaborated on the situation

West Ham, of course, have many options in their sights. Moreover, the amount spent on Rice will be high and therefore there will certainly be funds for two more quality midfielders. The most talked about are Kalvin Phillips from Manchester City and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic from Lazio Roma.

If Paqueta remains in the team and the aforementioned duo actually come in, then Soucek would most likely be left with even less space on the pitch, as he doesn’t quite fit into Moyes’ plans with the formation changes that have been happening recently.

However, the Czech international would undoubtedly continue to be a very valuable member of the squad, but he would probably lose his place in the starting line-up.

However, there is another thing to think about altogether, and that is the winger position, which is not well represented at West Ham, and instead of another central midfielder, in my opinion, it would be more appropriate to bring in a quality player to fill that position.

The team often lacks speed and then there is nothing else to do but to send centres into the box, where, for example, in the aforementioned Saturday’s duel, the pair of Soucek – Ings tried mostly in vain. A similar picture of the game has been seen in Hammers matches several times already.

And just like on Saturday, it didn’t work either. Therefore, higher quality on the wings could help to expand the attacking options a bit.

Source: Premier League, Whoscored, Givemesport