Sources: West Ham close to agreeing £17.5m signing after breakthrough in talks

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Published on:

22 Jul 2020, 1:30 am

West Ham are close to signing Tomas Soucek permanently after finalising talks with Slavia Prague, Football Insider understands.

The Hammers have confirmed to the Czech club they will trigger their obligation to buy the midfielder, 25, permanently as part of the agreement of his January loan-to-buy transfer.

A West Ham source has told Football Insider the club are set to pay a £13.5m fee on top of the £4m loan payment made to secure him initially in the January window.

It means the overall costs of signing Soucek are £17m, although he is also in line for a bumper contract and signing-on fee to increase that sum further.

West Ham are set to announce the deal at the end of the season once they have officially avoided relegation.

They are not mathematically safe after Aston Villa's shock 1-0 win over Arsenal last night but it would require extraordinary wins from Dean Smith's side and 18th-placed Watford on Sunday to send the Hammers down.

Soucek has been integral to West Ham's survival bid and already made a huge impact with his energy, athleticism and goalscoring from midfield.

He has started 10 Premier League matches in central midfield and is developing a burgeoning partnership with Declan Rice.

Soucek has also weighed in with crucial goals, including three in the last five matches against Chelsea, Newcastle United and Watford.

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

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