West Ham: £30m star's future 'in the balance' at London Stadium

West Ham will have to either hand Tomas Soucek a new contract or sell him, believes talkSPORT reporter Alex Crook.

The 27-year-old is struggling to agree a fresh deal with the east London club, and Crook says that has left his future at the London Stadium in the balance.

With just two years left on his current contract, it appears that Soucek wants a new one and a pay rise.

According to The Sun, the Czech midfielder and West Ham held contract talks back in February but nothing came from it after he learned he would not be getting an increase on his salary.

It is now thought that the Hammers could be prepared to sell Soucek for £30m as his present deal runs down.

Premier League rivals Newcastle United, Everton and Aston Villa are all said to be interested in the Czech Republic international.

Crook believes West Ham are now in a position where they have to either part ways with Soucek or hand him the new deal he wants.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, the talkSPORT reporter said: “I think they’re going to have to either sell him or give him a new contract. I think that’s a decision that’s in the balance at the moment. It might depend on how he starts the season.”

It is not unreasonable for Soucek to ask for a salary increase. Since he joined West Ham from Slavia Prague on an initial loan deal back in 2020, he has been one of the Hammers’ best players.

He could not match the 10 league goals he scored in the 2020/21 season last term, but he still had a pretty solid campaign overall.

As per WhoScored, Soucek made 1.9 tackles and 1.5 interceptions per game in the top flight. When it comes to the former, only Declan Rice (2.2) and Arthur Masuaku (2.4) recorded higher averages in West Ham’s squad. As for the latter, only Rice (1.8)