Tomáš Souček

Tomáš Souček (born 27 February 1995) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club West Ham United and captains the Czech Republic national team.

Slavia Prague
Souček joined Slavia Prague's youth team at 10 years old, after joining from hometown club Slovan Havlíčkův Brod. Slovan Havlíčkův Brod subsequently netted £1.5 million following Souček's transfer to West Ham United in 2020, covering their running costs for the next ten years. He had trials with two second-tier clubs, Frýdek-Místek and Vlašim, but they did not want to sign him. Viktoria Žižkov’s manager, Jindřich Trpišovský, watched Souček play and was not convinced of his ability but was persuaded to take him on a loan costing nothing to the club.

Souček made his league debut on 8 March 2015 in Viktoria Žižkov's 1–2 Czech National Football League home loss against FC Fastav Zlín. After returning to Slavia, he scored his first league goal on 16 August 2015 in Slavia Prague's 4–0 home win against FC Vysočina Jihlava.

Souček broke into the Slavia Prague first team in 2015 and played 29 out of 30 league matches in the 2015–16 Czech First League for them. However, in the 2016–17 season, his position in the first team was lost due to the arrival of Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui and Souček played only 93 minutes in three months between September and December 2016. He went on loan to Slovan Liberec during the winter transfer window, reuniting with former manager Trpišovský, who later managed Souček at Slavia Prague, following his appointment in December 2017.

On 9 May 2018, he played as Slavia Prague won the 2017–18 Czech Cup final against Jablonec.

In the 2018–19 season, he won the domestic double with Slavia Prague and was awarded the Czech First League Player of the Year award. On 17 June 2019, Souček extended his contract with Slavia Prague until 2024.

West Ham United
On 29 January 2020, Souček joined Premier League side West Ham United on an initial loan deal until the end of the 2019–20 season, with an option to make the transfer permanent in the summer. On 1 July, he scored his first goal for West Ham in a 3–2 win against Chelsea, having had a goal disallowed earlier in the same half by VAR. In West Ham's following league match, he scored again to give his team a 2–1 lead against Newcastle United, in an eventual 2–2 away draw. West Ham announced the permanent signing of Souček on 24 July 2020 on a four-year contract for a fee of around €21 million (£19 million). In August 2020, he was awarded the Czech Golden Ball.

On 1 January 2021, Souček scored the first Premier League goal of 2021 as West Ham beat Everton 1–0 at Goodison Park. During added time in a game against Fulham on 6 February, Souček was controversially sent off upon review after VAR appeared to show him strike Aleksandar Mitrović in the face; referee Mike Dean's decision was criticised by many of Souček's teammates, manager David Moyes and a number of pundits who protested Souček's innocence. West Ham launched an appeal to have the decision overturned in the aftermath. On 8 February, the red card was rescinded. He finished the 2020–21 season as West Ham's joint-top scorer, along with Michail Antonio, both having scored ten goals. Souček's exploits during the 2020–21 season won him the Hammer of the Year award. On 7 June 2023, Souček played in the 2023 UEFA Europa Conference League final, against Fiorentina in Prague. West Ham won their first trophy in 43 years with a 2–1 victory. On 1 January 2024, he signed a new contract with the club until 2027.

International career
Souček appeared in all three matches of the Czech Republic under-21 team in the 2017 UEFA Under-21 Championship.

After representing the Czech Republic in several youth categories, Souček debuted for the senior team on 15 November 2016 in a friendly match against Denmark. He made his competitive debut on 10 June 2017, in Czech Republic's 1–1 away draw against Norway in a 2018 World Cup qualifier.

On 24 March 2021, Souček scored a hat-trick in a 6–2 World Cup qualifying win against Estonia. He was a member of the Czech Republic squad for Euro 2020 where they were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Denmark. Following the tournament, Souček was confirmed as the new captain of the Czech Republic, after Vladimír Darida's retirement from international football.

In May 2024, Souček was named as a member of the Czech Republic squad for Euro 2024.

Style of play
Souček has built a reputation as an energetic box-to-box midfielder with both defensive and attacking qualities. He is also known for his strong physical presence thanks to his 1.92m frame. Souček was likened to Marouane Fellaini by José Mourinho due to his heading ability from set-pieces.

International

 * Scores and results list Czech Republic's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Souček goal.

Honours
Slavia Prague
 * Czech First League: 2016–17, 2018–19
 * Czech Cup: 2017–18, 2018–19
 * Czechoslovak Supercup: 2019

West Ham United
 * UEFA Europa Conference League: 2022–23

Czech Republic
 * China Cup bronze: 2018

Individual
 * Czech First League Best Midfielder of the Season: 2018–19
 * Czech Footballer of the Year: 2019, 2020, 2023
 * Golden Ball (Czech Republic): 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024
 * West Ham United Player of the Year: 2020–21
 * Silver Medal of Jan Masaryk: 2021