When Tomas Soucek joined West Ham on loan from Slavia Prague in January 2020, nobody could have predicted the impact that the Czech midfielder would make at the London Stadium.
Following an impressive debut season in England, the Hammers made Soucek’s deal permanent during the previous summer transfer window – paying £19.1m (€21m) to acquire his services.
TODAY!!!I became a part of this great @WestHam family exactly one year ago! I appreciate every training and match in the club! #WHU #COYIDnes je to přesně rok, co jsem se stal součástí téhle skvělé rodiny! Vážím a cením si každého tréninku a zápasu v klubu! #WHU #COYI pic.twitter.com/kx1gbtykSs— Tomáš Souček (@tomassoucek28) January 29, 2021
TODAY!!!I became a part of this great @WestHam family exactly one year ago! I appreciate every training and match in the club! #WHU #COYIDnes je to přesně rok, co jsem se stal součástí téhle skvělé rodiny! Vážím a cením si každého tréninku a zápasu v klubu! #WHU #COYI pic.twitter.com/kx1gbtykSs
Since then, the 25-year-old has continued to go from strength to strength and has established himself as one of the first names on David Moyes’ team sheet.
Soucek contributed three goals in 13 Premier League appearances during the second half of the 2019/20 campaign, helping West Ham to avoid relegation.
This season, he has played every single second of the Hammers’ league games, notching up eight goals in 22 outings.
In fact, since the beginning of 2020, no midfielder has netted more non-penalty goals in the Premier League. Pretty impressive, right?
Below is a list of the midfielders with the most Premier League goals since the start of last year.
• Tomas Soucek – West Ham (11)
• Bruno Fernandes – Manchester United (10)
• Jack Grealish – Aston Villa (9)
• Phil Foden – Manchester City (8)
• James Maddison – Leicester City (7)
• Ilkay Gundogan – Manchester City (6)
As you can see, Soucek sits above some of the league’s best players, with the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden ranking below him.
Much has been made of Bruno Fernandes’ impact at Manchester United, yet it could be argued that Soucek has made an even bigger impact for West Ham.
After winning two Czech First League titles and two Czech Cups with Slavia Prague, Soucek was names Czech Footballer of the Year in 2019.
The following year, he received the Czech Golden Ball, which is voted for by members of the Club of Sport Journalists.
Legends like Pavel Nedved and Petr Cech have won the award multiple times. If Soucek continues to excel, he will almost certainly win the Golden Ball again.
West Ham’s recruitment policy has been questionable at best in recent years, but the club definitely made the correct decision when it came to signing Soucek.
If the likeable midfielder keeps on cementing his status as one of the most prolific goalscoring midfielders in the Premier League, he could soon earn himself a move to an elite club.