West Ham United fans will have woken up on Wednesday morning in utter despair. The Premier League table makes for grim reading for Hammers fans – but for Leeds supporters, it’s the opposite.
Before Tuesday night’s fixture, Gary Neville highlighted the importance of West Ham’s clash against Nottingham Forest. In reality, it has had a massive impact on the race for survival in the Premier League.
Forest’s late 2-1 win has not only seen Leeds remain eight in front of the Hammers in 16th, but the Hammers have now been cut adrift by seven points. Nottingham Forest are now seven ahead in 17th.
How many more points do Leeds need to survive? 📉
Farke has said a point a game will be enough…
West Ham look beleaguered, and Nuno Espirito Santo is yet to win, with West Ham’s last win coming against Nuno while he was in charge of Forest. For Tomas Soucek, it will be incredibly frustrating.
£19m West Ham man will regret decision to ignore Leeds
Back in the summer, Leeds’ transfer policy was obvious. Players with National Team caps, between the ages of 26 and 28, and over 6ft. Soucek was identified as a target by Adam Underwood and Leeds.
There were reports that Soucek wanted to leave West Ham. At Everton, David Moyes was also keen on a reunion with Soucek. Understandably at the time, Soucek ignored Leeds, a newly-promoted side.
It was an issue that Leeds encountered a few times. The form of newly-promoted sides had put some players off. The £19m West Ham signing rejected Leeds and eventually chose to remain at West Ham.
Now, six months on and looking at the Premier League table, Soucek will surely be regretting his decision not to encourage a move to Elland Road. Soucek has now entered the final 18 months of his contract.
If we get offered £10m or more for Gnonto we have to sell, right? 🇮🇹
That money can be used on someone better suited to the 3-5-2 formation… 💰
Tomas Soucek would have been the ideal Leeds signing
Leeds improved their midfield well in the summer. Removing Joe Rothwell, retaining Ilia Gruev as cover, and getting Ethan Ampadu back to fitness, Leeds also brought in Anton Stach and Sean Longstaff.
The duo cost a combined £35m and have both improved Leeds in their own way. Stach’s goal threat, Longstaff’s set-piece ability, their hard-working, box-to-box style approach to midfield work, all superb.
But Soucek would give Leeds even more. Leeds have become well known for scoring goals from set pieces but Soucek would have taken that to a whole new level. He is a beast from dead-ball situations.
This month, Soucek is likely to be unavailable with West Ham keen to avoid losing him and especially to a rival like Leeds. But if there is a chance that Leeds could bring him in, then perhaps it is worth considering.
Receive a digest of our best Leeds content each week direct to your mailbox
