West Ham have confirmed the arrival of Slavia Prague midfielder Tomas Soucek on a six-month loan deal until the end of the season.
Soucek will join West Ham permanently at the end of the season if they beat the drop in a deal that will cost the club €20m (£16.9m) overall.
David Moyes has spent this month desperately looking to bolster his midfield and has turned to Soucek after failing with a move for Gedson Fernandes.
West Ham were locked in talks to sign Fernandes on an initial 18-month loan before Tottenham hi-jacked their deal.
The Hammers are also interested in former Leeds midfielder Ronaldo Vieira and have had a bid rejected by Sampdoria
Soucek has spent his entire career at Slavia Prague and also has more than a dozen caps for Czech Republic.
The 24-year-old started all six of Slavia Prague's Champions League group games and scored two goals in that time.
Despite the fact Slavia Prague finished bottom of a Group that inclucded Inter, Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona, Soucek finished the campaign with an impressive WhoScored rating of 7.35.
Soucek impressively averaged both 2.5 tackles and interceptions combined, as well as 4 aerial duels won per game in the group stage. Moreover, the Czech midfielder attempted 2.3 shots per game.
