West Ham have spent a significant amount of money on new players over the past few years to help the club get to where they are now in terms of playing in Europe.

One player in particular in whom the east London club spent a decent amount of money and who has certainly been worth the investment when you look at what he has delivered on the pitch is Tomas Soucek.

The Hammers originally signed the Czech Republic midfielder on loan from Slavia Prague in January 2020 before he joined on a permanent £15m deal the following summer.

The 27-year-old has made 92 appearances in total for the Irons across all competitions, scoring 17 goals and providing two assists along the way. With 27 appearances under his belt in the league this season, Declan Rice and Michail Antonio are the only outfield players to have played more minutes than Soucek, showing how important he is to David Moyes' side.

One area in which the former loan star has proven to be rather impressive is winning aerial duels, with a total of 112 already in this campaign, more than any other West Ham player.

In terms of his overall performances, the £47k-per-week colossus has earned himself a solid rating of 7.09/10 from WhoScored, making him the third-highest rated player in Moyes' squad.

According to Transfermarkt, the midfielder's current market value stands at £40.5m, which is a huge 170% increase on the £15m fee that the club paid to keep hold of the Czech star after his 2020 loan spell.

This shows just what a great bit of business it was from the Hammers to secure his signature.

Labelled a "superb" player by Kevin Phillips who is "the master of arriving late into the box" and being "a great asset for David Moyes", it's safe to say that this is a deal which has certainly paid dividends for West Ham.

If the midfield titan can keep playing well for the Irons and add some more goals to his tally, as he has proven capable of doing, he could play a massive part in their potential domestic and European success over the rest of the season.

In other news: Moyes must ruthlessly axe £113k-p/w deadwood this summer, it's costing WHU millions - opinion