West Ham vice-captain Tomas Soucek is set to return from injury after the international break.
Whether or not you think it’s too early to call Soucek a West Ham legend, anyone who doesn’t think he’s one of our best players in the Premier League era is stupid.
The Czech international has played 284 times for the Hammers, scoring 47 goals and providing 13 assists. These are incredible numbers, bearing in mind they are all in the PL, Europe, or the cups.
Tomas is yet to play a game for us in the Championship, or this season at all. The 31-year-old has been out since he injured his ankle in his country’s 3-0 loss to Mexico in the World Cup group stages at the end of June.
At the start of the window, our insider ExWHUEmployee reported that the medical team was aiming for the Millwall game for his return.
He obviously didn’t end up making the squad for that game; however, he has been in training for a week or two. Some rumours have suggested he could’ve been risked, but with the three-week international break upcoming, it was better to keep him until after it.
Thankfully, the Czech Republic haven’t called up Soucek for their latest Nations League squad. Nothing is confirmed, but I wonder if that was at the request of the Hammers, who wouldn’t have been happy when he got injured playing for his country, and didn’t want to risk it again before he has even made his West Ham comeback.
I think it’s almost guaranteed that Soucek will be back in the squad to face QPR at London Stadium on October 9th, and it will be an absolutely massive boost for us.
A midfield three of Mukasa, Engels, and Soucek is what dreams are made of in the Championship.
