After a season of immense struggle, West Ham rounded off a rather forgettable Premier League season with a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.

David Moyes will no doubt be keen for new faces to be brought into the team ahead of the next campaign which starts in next September, and that means making sure their recruitment is up and running.

One of the big talking points for the Hammers will be whether they can keep hold of star man Declan Rice, with reports in recent weeks and months claiming that the likes of Chelsea are interested in luring him away from the London Stadium.

If the England international does depart, then West Ham may actually already have the perfect successor to the midfielder in Tomas Soucek.

The Czech Republic international initially joined the Hammers on a loan deal in January, but was signed permanently for around £19.1m a few days ago.

And if his performances in recent weeks are to go by, then it's clear that they have made quite the smart signing.

Against Villa on Sunday, Soucek was at his absolute powerful best, challenging for everything and making sure he held down the engine room with Rice.

As per Sofascore, he contested 15 total duels (the most of any Hammers player) and won a remarkable 12 of them too. Soucek also won an impressive four tackles, again a team-high, and made another three clearances as well.

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The past few games have seen him develop into a goal threat, particularly from set-pieces, but against Villa, he shone from a more defensive point of view.

Losing Rice would be a bitter blow for Moyes, but Soucek is beginning to show he could more than handle the spotlight of being the dominant Hammers ace in the middle of the park.