Why Man United should sign West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek

Stefan Bienkowski

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 2 min read

Manchester United could turn to West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek to fix their midfield problems in the summer transfer window. 

Having been linked with Soucek’s midfield partner, Declan Rice, for what seems like eternity, the Premier League giants have apparently now turned their attention to the Czech Republic international instead. 

According to the Daily Star, United’s scouts have since noticed Soucek’s talents on their regular trips to London and think the 25-year-old midfielder could plug a few holes in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side next season. 

However, with a contract until 2024, there’s no guarantee that Soucek would be able to make the move north to Manchester for anything less than a substantial fee. 

So is the Czech midfield bruiser worth a sizable chunk of United’s transfer budget for next season?

How Soucek would fit in at Man United

So far this season Soucek has mostly been playing as a ball winning midfielder in the heart of David Moyes’ side, with the occasional spell as a more reserved holding midfielder or a more gung-ho box-to-box player. And it’s not hard to imagine why United would benefit from having that kind of player among their ranks next season. 

At the moment Solskjaer has no less than five central midfielders to pick from – six if you include Bruno Fernandes – in the form of Nemanja Matic, Paul Pogba, Donny van de Beek, Scott McTominay and Fred. 

While that may suggest there’s very little room for Soucek in United’s squad for next season, it’s worth bearing in mind that by then Matic will be 33, Pogba may have moved on to pastures new and Van De Beek may still be struggling to show why the club bought him in the first place. 

Indeed, while it’s unlikely that the club would go out of their way to sign a player to rival Solskjaer’s trusted midfield duo of Fred and McTominay, there may be an urgent need to find a more ideal back-up besides the ageing Matic and an extra midfielder if Pogba is indeed sold. 

The question that still remains is whether Soucek, who will undoubtedly cost a small fortune to sign from West Ham, is the player to help bolster United’s midfield depth next season.