Sullivan To Get His Czech Book Out Again

Having by luck or judgement secured one of the best deals the club have made in the transfer market since the signing of Dimitri Payet, West Ham United are looking to add another Czech player to join up with Tomas Soucek who arrived on loan in the January transfer window before his move was made permanent following the club's successful battle against relegation.

According to sources in Prague the Hammers have offered £4 Million for Slavia Prague midfielder Lukas Masopust, the 27 year old has been in fine form for Slavia Prague helping them to win yet another Czech league title, scoring seven goals and with five assists to his name

The £4 Million offered by the Irons as they look to reunite Soucek with a man he knows very well indeed for club and country, seems ludicrously cheap for an established International with Champions League experience, if a deal can be done Masopust would represent superb value, as an added bonus he speaks English well which helps no end when a player arrives from overseas. The fact that he and Soucek are friends as well as colleagues augers well for the future, however at 27 years old he is only just on the cusp of being young and hungry, he is more in the same vein as the 'experienced' player Moyes recently said the club needs to play alongside the youngsters he wants to bring through.
Masopust's wages are easily affordable so this deal could get over the line sooner rather than later, however his arrival as a right sided midfielder might signal the end of Grady Diangana's possible integration in to the first team, and if not Grady, who? David Moyes is keen to retain Diangana, but might be tempted to send him out on loan again in order to keep the youngster happy, most fans cannot see the point in letting another team benefit from Grady's superb abilities, especially if they were a Barclays Premier League team.

Mark Noble has already made it crystal clear that he does not envisage having to play every game next season, which will most likely be his last as a player, so perhaps Moyes sees Masopust as Noble's eventual replacement. Buying in the bargain basement doesn't necessarily mean you get rubbish, clear and concise due diligence can yield hidden nuggets, and at least for a while West Ham United appear to have struck a rich vein in The Czech Republic. - Ed