Torino are already drawing up plans to sign Nikola Vlasic on a permanent £12 million deal from Premier League outfit West Ham United, Tuttosport saying that the Croatia international will accept a pay cut when signing a contract until 2027.
The Granata have been burned before.
Torino, last year, signed Josip Brekalo on a loan-to-buy deal from Wolfsburg. But the Serie A outfit were made to pay for waiting until the end of the season before looking to tie the winger down on to permanent deal, Brekalo rebuffing their advances and returning to Germany instead.
And Ivan Juric’s ninth-placed side are hoping to ensure that history does not repeat itself.
Vlasic, after a season to forget at the London Stadium, has made an immediate impact on Italian soil. He even scored in three successive league games recently; more than he managed throughout the entirety of the 2021/22 season with West Ham.
Has Nikola Vlasic played his final game for West Ham United?
“Vlasic is a very strong player,” beams Torino president Urbano Cairo. “He has great quality and intelligence. Spectacular.”
“He is one of those players who combines technical and physical qualities,” adds director Davide Vagnati.
“West Ham had paid him a lot of money for him. But, in England, it didn’t go as they expected. We did well to sign him, but the championship is still long.”
According to Tuttosport, negotiations between Vlasic and Torino will begin in December. A agreement over a permanent transfer appears to be less a case of ‘if’ and more ‘when’. Vlasic, who could reportedly sign a long-term deal until 2027, may even become a full-time member of the Torino squad before the turn of the year.
The report adds that the former Everton misfit could accept a sizeable pay cut of around £450,000 too; such is his desire to bring an early end to a West Ham career. One that promised much but ultimately delivered next-to-nothing.
“Nikola didn’t have the best season in England,” says Vlasic’s former CSKA Moscow coach Ivica Olic.
“It seems to me that the main reason (for his struggles) is that he arrived almost on the last day (of the transfer window), and West Ham already had a team formed. It was not easy (and) it took time to adapt to the league.
“West Ham played well. Vlasic had strong competition for his position. Nicola mostly played in the Europa League but, in the Premier League, he remained a reserve player.”
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