Nikola Vlasic has promised that he will ‘soon’ force his way into West Ham United’s Premier League plans, former CSKA Moscow manager Viktor Goncharenko tells Sport24.
Considering that Vlasic’s previous spell in English football didn’t exactly go to plan, its understandable that his rather sluggish start to life at the London Stadium has set alarm bells ringing.
Is history about to repeat itself?
Well, no. Not necessarily.
Vlasic was a little-known youngster when he arrived at Everton back in 2016.
He’s a more mature, well-rounded footballer these days. An established Croatia international and the 2020 Russian Premier League Player of the Year to boot.
What next for Nikola Vlasic at West Ham?
Yes, Vlasic has found it hard to force his way into David Moyes’ starting XI. But, then again, so did Said Benrahma and Pablo Fornals.
And look at them now.
“(I told him) Nicola, it’s time to play,” Goncharenko says, detailing a conversation between him and West Ham’s £23 million man.
“He replied: ‘Soon you will see me’.
“Vlasic is a top football player when he is one hundred percent happy and emotionally ready to play. The number of goals that we saw in the first two seasons (at CSKA) were at a very high level.
“Maybe he should have left (CSKA) earlier.”
Vlasic has made just six Premier League appearances under Moyes so far. His only start, meanwhile, came during the 2-1 defeat to Manchester United in mid-September.
Vlasic did provide a few tantalising glimpses of his potential during West Ham’s recent 2-0 Europa League group-stage victory over Rapid Vienna.
During that Thursday night trip to Austria, Vlasic set up Andriy Yarmolenko’s opener with a perfectly-weighted cross.
Fellow summer signing Alex Kral has also found game-time hard to come by in the English capital.
His future appears to be less secure than Vlasic’s however, given that Kral is only at West Ham on a short-term loan-to-buy deal.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
