Tomas Soucek has already become the top-scoring Czech footballer in Premier League history, but another piece of history would elude the West Ham United midfielder this week.
Six weeks after Soucek leapfrogged ex-Liverpool ace Patrik Berger with his 37th goal in England’s top flight, his reign of dominance would end back home.
West Ham United’s former Slavia Prague captain had won four of the last six Czech Footballer of the Year awards; a run only broken up by Bayer Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick.
Olympique Lyonnais v AS Monaco - Ligue 1 McDonald's 2025/2026
Photo by Catherine Steenkeste/Getty Images
In the 2025 edition, though, Tomas Soucek would finish a lowly fifth. Ironically enough, the man who joins Soucek, Petr Cech, Tomas Rosicky, Pavel Nedved, Jan Kollar and Karel Poborksy in the record books is none other than Pavel Sulc.
The Lyon star who has been linked with a move to the Hammers in the last few days.
Pavel Sulc could reportedly join Tomas Soucek at West Ham United
According to SportsBoom, the Hammers have had scouts at Lyon’s Groupama Stadium, as have Everton, Leeds, Stuttgart and the aforementioned Bayer Leverkusen. Lyon’s number ten these days, Sulc joined OL for £8.5 million from Viktoria Plzen last summer.
If Chelsea loanee Axel Disasi could be the bargain of 2026 at a reported £20 million, then Sulc is up there with the finest pound-for-pound deals of 2025.
Pavel Sulc celebrates during Paris FC v Olympique Lyonnais - Ligue 1 McDonald's
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An attacking midfielder with the goalscoring record of a seasoned number nine, the 25-year-old has scored 14 goals while providing seven assists in 29 Lyon games.
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Eleven goals in 15 Ligue 1 starts puts him fifth in France’s Golden Boot race.
When you consider he ended his final season at Viktoria Plzen with 20 goals and 15 assists, while also helping his national team set up a World Cup play-off with the Republic of Ireland, even the most ardent Soucek fanatic would struggle to make a case for him finishing above Sulc in the Player of the Year rankings.
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A graphic showing Lucas Paqueta's all-time statistics for West Ham.
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Sulc could be a fine replacement for Lucas Paqueta
SportsBoom believe that Lyon would be willing to listen to offers in the region of £40 million.
If West Ham plan to bring in a genuine Lucas Paqueta replacement, Sulc feels like a pretty exciting candidate. Thriving as a ‘number ten’ or a ‘second-striker’ both at Viktoria Plzen and his new France-based employers, Sulc is growing season-by-season into one of the most effective goalscoring midfielders in the game.
And who better than Soucek to help him perfect those late dashes into the penalty area?
“I want to thank Viktoria Plzen, Lyon, all my teammates, my family and the best thing at the end; I thank my girlfriend, who supports me and created a home for me in Lyon. This way I can focus only on football,” said Sulc, who finished 235 votes ahead of runner-up Schick [Idnes].
“And thank you to my cat!
“Thank you all for the votes. I appreciate it. I didn’t expect it because we have so many great players abroad.”
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