'He frightens people' - Exclusive: McAvennie reacts as West Ham close in on £13.5m signing

Frank McAvennie insisted signing Tomas Soucek permanently for an extra £13.5million is "an absolute bargain" and urged West Ham to complete a deal swiftly. 

The Irons and Celtic legend, speaking exclusively to Football Insider correspondent Dylan Childs, once again compared the 25-year-old to Frank Lampard for his goalscoring ability.

Soucek has hugely impressed since he joined on loan from Slavia Prague in January with three goals in 11 appearances.

Football Insider revealed yesterday that the club are close to signing Soucek permanently by paying a £13.5m fee on top of the £4m loan payment made to secure him on loan earlier this year.

McAvennie suggested that to get a player of his quality for such a price was a real coup.

When asked by Football Insider if the Czech Republic international was a smart signing, McAvennie said: "It's an absolute bargain.

"I would have already signed him by now.

"That last player to get in the box and score goals like that was Frank Lampard.

"He is a big lad, I did not realise how big he was. He frightens people and when Antonio goes out of the box Soucek fills that space - he is there.

"He loves scoring a goal and long may it continue. For that sort of price it is a bargain. That is nothing in today's market."

Moyes, when speaking on Soucek's future, said: "The only way he wasn’t sticking around is if we went down or we weren’t here, there was a chance he would go back to Slavia Prague, but we always had it in our plans that he'd stay with us."

A point against Manchester United last night confirmed the Hammers survival.

In other West Ham news, what it will take for the Irons to sell Declan Rice can be REVEALED after multiple offers.

PLUS: Subscribe for free to our brilliant new YouTube channel for daily videos, interviews with our top pundits and special guests, and all the latest insight into the club you love.