Moyes Speaks Out On Why West Ham Opted To Spend £13m on Czech Star

West Ham manager David Moyes believes Slavia Prague midfielder Tomas Soucek will give the team some added experience in the middle of the park.

The Hammers have agreed to pay £13m for the 24-year-old with the Czech international undergoing a medical ahead of the deal being finalised, and Moyes is very happy with the transfer:

“He fits the profile of the player I want. We are in a difficult period where we need experienced players. At the moment he [Soucek] ticks a lot of boxes. We need to give him an opportunity and time to settle in.”

Soucek has played 158 times for Slavia Prague, winning the Czech league title and the domestic cup on two separate occasions. He also has experience of playing in the Champions League and the Europa League.

Despite ostensibly being a defensive midfielder, the Czech is actually pretty prolific in front of goal, having scored 12 goals and provided three assists in 26 appearances this campaign. All but two of those goals came in his domestic league.

West Ham have been linked with a lot of midfielders over the past few weeks but it appears Soucek met the criteria, both in terms of quality and in regards to his price tag.