The £20m genius West Ham midfield warrior signing who could ignite summer window amid Leeds United interest

It’s been a strange few years for West Ham. The most recent English club to win a European trophy until three weeks ago sacked their most successful manager of the Premier League era 12 months ago in a bid to improve their playing style, then brought in a boss renowned for his no-nonsense approach.

Unsurprisingly Julien Lopetegui couldn’t replicate David Moyes’ success at the London Stadium or look any better doing it, so the most successful non-Big Six club in 3 Added Minutes’ 2024/25 Horror Show Awards ended Graham Potter’s 648-day exile from management in hopes of steadying the ship.

The jury is still out on Potter, who averages 1.11 points per game so far for West Ham, but he’s earned a summer transfer window to try and steer the Hammers onto the right track and will hope to overhaul an aging squad and replicate his success at Brighton.

Though the controversial move to the Olympic Park has helped West Ham become regular fixtures in the top 20 of the Deloitte Money League, the Irons had the sixth-highest net spend in the Premier League last season so must proceed with caution this summer and not spend too far beyond their means.

One candidate for pasture is Tomas Soucek, and TBR Football believes Potter is eying up Club Brugge midfielder Raphael Onyedika as his replacement to kickstart West Ham’s summer transfer window.

Raphael Onyedika offers all-round upgrade on Soucek

Fittingly for the star of such a peculiar club, there’s no getting around the fact that Tomas Soucek is a weird player.

He has always been an unorthodox midfielder (to put it more kindly) as a goal poacher that is comfortable sitting deeper than his output would suggest - imagine Ruud van Nistelrooy if his favourite position had been lining up next to Roy Keane.

A stunning 78% of Soucek’s career goals have come from defensive midfield, and this season he has a better strike rate when lining up as a central midfielder than in attack (a goal every two games versus one in five).

However, that preference to starting in a holding role has been accompanied by some pretty mediocre defensive stats - Soucek ranks in the bottom 9% of players in his position in Europe’s top five leagues for tackles per game and he only contributes to creating a goal for another player once every 10 games.

Somehow Soucek is in the top 4% of the Europe’s elite midfielders for goals scored and the bottom quarter for assists. Only 6% of the Premier League’s midfielders make less progressive passes than the Czech and just 2% have a worse short pass completion rate.

Soucek can be mercurial - he scored six times in just over two months on a hot streak in 2023 but only ended the season with seven Premier League goals - yet this has worked wonders for the Hammers since he joined in January 2020.

He’s weird, but good weird. However, he’s now turned 30 and with two years left on his contract the Hammers are looking for a replacement. Surprisingly enough, there’s not too many Van Nistelrooys playing in the Makelele role right now, so Potter is eying Onyedika after starring for Club Brugge this season.

Onyedika clocked up almost 4,000 minutes last season as the Club downed Atalanta en route to the last 16 of the Champions League and finished second twice in the unfathomable Belgian Pro League, with the midfielder offering a more traditional option for Potter.

The Nigerian is a metronome, ranking among the best midfielders on the continent for most passing metrics while also a danger with the ball at his feet driving at defenders; or more usually the opposition midfield with two-thirds of his touches taking place in the middle of the pitch.

His tackling numbers still aren’t much to write home about and he doesn’t have the same return in front of goal as Soucek, but Onyedika would unlock so many more layers to West Ham’s attack. And at just €24 million (£20m), he’s matches the Hammers’ valuation of Soucek.

Man City could scupper Raphael Onyedika deal amid Leeds interest

Leeds look to be keenest on signing Soucek, with Daniel Farke possessing a £150m war chest to try and keep the Whites in the Premier League. West Ham could be a relegation rival next season and Leeds are reportedly happy to meet the Irons’ demands, but the other end could be more complicated.

AC Milan are targeting Onyedika as a replacement to Tijjani Reijnders after Manchester City pulled the trigger on the Dutchman for £46m, and remain an attractive proposition to players despite missing out European football next season.

Aged 24, Onyedika appears keen on a move to London right now, but AC Milan have a strong track record of developing midfielders with Reijnders following in the footsteps of Sandro Tonali and make a big-money move to the Premier League after signing at the San Siro for relative pennies.