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West Ham’ Soucek situation must be sorted soon

By Scott Johnson

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 07: Tomas Soucek of West Ham United applauds the fans after the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and West Ham United at Emirates Stadium on March 07, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Chloe Knott - Danehouse/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 07: Tomas Soucek of West Ham United applauds the fans after the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and West Ham United at Emirates Stadium on March 07, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Chloe Knott - Danehouse/Getty Images) /
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As the season looks to be re-opening, Premier League clubs are examining the legalities around contracts and loan extensions. West Ham has only one real panic area, but it’s one we need to sort soon.

One of the minor points of re-starting the league after it’s original finish date was the issue of contracts. How would loan deals work? What if players had future transfers agreed? On the 30th June, there is still potential for a lot of players to be legally unsure of who they’re playing for. West Ham has three contracts up in the summer, including the loan deal for Tomas Soucek.

Although there are two permanent contract up for renewal in the summer, they are for Pablo Zabaleta and Carlos Sanchez. Zabaleta will be without a club and so will probably be a simple re-negotiation if necessary, and Sanchez is unwanted by the club.

Soucek is however on loan, with certain clauses which would cause us to buy him. With those unlikely to be fulfilled before June, it’s a strange circumstance to be sorted, and as far as we’re aware, it’s not been arranged by the club as of yet.

Given that twitter ITK ExWhuEmployee has stated that we wanted to purchase him whatever, I’m confident that the club will try to do so. But finances will have been impacted by the shutdown and the delay could be hit harder if the decision is to play the matches at neutral venues in final stages of the league. Will we be able to justify spending out on a player to secure him earlier in the season than we were after? Before Premier League safety is assured?

I’m hoping that most clubs and players will be able to agree that rather than 30th June, the deadline for these contracts and clauses will be a week or so after the official end of the season. However there will be cases like United’s Ighalo having to return to China, but that should be the exception, not the rule.

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That way there aren’t any complicated periods of playing and transfers occurring simultaneously and we can return to as much normal as possible, and the fans can focus on the football rather than what will be going on behind the scenes, in a time where we have enough concerns already.