West Ham United are reportedly still interested in signing Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher this summer and the England international's potential arrival at the London Stadium could allow David Moyes to finally ditch Tomas Soucek.
Could West Ham sign Conor Gallagher?
According to the Evening Standard, both Gallagher and Kalvin Phillips are high up on the Hammers' shortlist this summer as they consider how to replace club captain Declan Rice, who looks destined to leave in search of Champions League football.
With Phillips the more natural heir to Rice in the defensive midfield role at West Ham, Gallagher could prove to be a replacement for the struggling Soucek in Moyes' side, should the east London outfit spend big this summer and bring them both in, which of course would only be an option should they avoid relegation from the top flight this season.
It has also been an underwhelming season for the Chelsea academy graduate, who has failed to replicate his performances from his loan spell at Crystal Palace last season, where he became a key player for the Eagles and earned a call-up to Gareth Southgate's England side.
In 34 Premier League appearances for the Selhurst Park outfit, the young midfielder would manage eight goals and three assists with a strong WhoScored average rating of 7.09, which is comfortably more goal contributions and a better rating than anyone in the Hammers' squad so far this campaign.
Patrick Vieira sang the 23-year-old's praises after his brace in the 3-1 win against Everton, saying:
“Conor has this passion for the game when he is on the field like a Ray Parlour, but I would say he has maybe the quality finishing of a Frank Lampard.
“It is a manager’s dream to have a player like Conor because when he is on the field, he will give everything."
The comparisons with former West Ham and Chelsea favourite Lampard didn't end there however, as NBC Sports journalist Joe Prince-Wright described him as "like peak Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard rolled into one," which certainly bodes well for his future if he can rediscover his best form away from Stamford Bridge.
Could Moyes replace Soucek with Gallagher?
Given the huge sums of money being spent by Todd Boehly at Chelsea, Gallagher could become available this summer and could slot into a new-look Hammers midfield, which fans may well be hoping doesn't feature Soucek.
Despite featuring as a central midfielder, the Czech Republic international boasts one of the worst pass success rates in West Ham's squad with just 72.6% of his passes finding a teammate per Premier League game.
Gallagher also betters Soucek when it comes to key passes (0.7 vs 0.4), dribbles (0.7 vs 0.1) and crosses (0.4 vs 0.2) per game this season, which suggests that even though the young Englishman hasn't been at his best and has been limited to a lot of appearances from the bench, he has still performed better from an attacking perspective this season.
Therefore, surely the Chelsea man would be a preferable long-term option to the former Slavia Prague man in West Ham's midfield.
