Thomas Soucek’s West Ham career was saved by David Sullivan after he personally intervened to give the Hammer another chance, according to an agent source.

When Nuno Espírito Santo joined the Hammers in September last year, he said he would not stand in the way of Thomas Soucek should he want to find a new club in January.

According to an agent source close to the club, the West Ham chairman is a big fan of the 30-year-old Czech midfielder and questioned why the manager wasn’t including him in the team after a poor set of results.

Nuno took a leap of faith in starting Thomas Soucek and hasn’t looked back since. He quickly changed his mind and decided Soucek was an important member of his squad and was not for sale before the winter January transfer window arrived.

Soucek’s first start under Nuno came on 20 October against Brentford, but it was in November when Soucek hit form again, scoring four goals in back-to-back games in the month, two in the Premier League against Newcastle and Burnley, then two international goals for the Czech Republic.

He now has a regular starting place, scoring an important goal at the...