The Toffees man had a poor first season with the Premier League club and has spent much of 2018-19 with CSKA Moscow.
Everton midfielder Nikola Vlasic has spoken out about his move to the Premier League club and why he feels it has not been fruitful.
The 21-year-old was signed under Ronald Koeman’s watch from Hajduk Split in August 2017 for a transfer fee reported by BBC Sport to be £10million, his departing tally with the Croatian club standing at 120 games, 13 goals and 20 assists, according to Transfermarkt.
However, Koeman was sacked the following October, with David Unsworth serving as caretaker manager before Sam Allardyce was appointed permanently, which proved a blow to the player’s hopes of continuity and stability.
In 2017-18 Vlasic did not claim a single Premier League goal, though he did net twice in the Europa League (Transfermarkt), but this term he has been impressive on loan at CSKA Moscow.
Indeed, his seven goals and four assists in 24 appearances for the Russian Premier Liga club – including three goals and two assists in the Champions League – have helped him earn a recall to the Croatia national side after missing out on a place at last year’s World Cup.
In conversation with Fox Sports Radio, the Croatian suggested that a mixture of managerial changes and the Toffees not giving him enough time to adjust ended up hampering his tenure at Goodison Park.
“There were a lot of changes at Everton and I didn’t find my place there,” he said. “It’s always hard there because if you don’t take your chance first time, then it’s hard to get another.
“Here (at CSKA), I have a chance every time. Even if I play badly in one game, I know I will have another chance. It’s the best thing that could have happened for me, this trust that I have at CSKA from the coach, the staff, the players, everybody. This is the main thing for a player to play in a good way.”
Some Toffees fans had their say on Twitter about the player’s comments:
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