Everton sold Nikola Vlasic to CSKA Moscow last summer.
Everton’s transfer record in recent years has been a little hit and miss, and it’s up to Marcel Brands to find quality players for the Toffees.
Steve Walsh spent big on the likes of Yannick Bolasie, Morgan Schneiderlin, Cenk Tosun and Davy Klaassen, with limited success out of them.
Walsh also oversaw deals for young players like Henry Onyekuru and Nikola Vlasic, who both arrived with high hopes but were sold on without being able to reach their potential at Goodison Park.
Onyekuru was sold to Monaco last summer without making an appearance for Everton due to work permit issues, whilst Vlasic joined CSKA Moscow permanently last summer after a strong loan spell.
Everton paid £10million for Vlasic in 2017, but sold him for £14million last summer, making a rather disappointing profit on a talented young playmaker.
This term, the 22-year-old has hit eight goals and six assists for CSKA, and his impressive displays in Russia and on the international stage may see him move for a bigger fee in the future.
Now, former Everton assistant Erwin Koeman has told the Liverpool Echo that he feels Vlasic is a ‘fantastic player’, but just wasn’t the sort of attacker Everton needed at that time as they looked to replace Romelu Lukaku.
“Nikola Vlasic also came and, for me, he is still a fantastic player but, again, he is not a goal scorer like a striker so every week the consequences of not replacing Lukaku [were felt],” said Koeman. “If Lukaku had been sold in May, or the beginning of June, then it would have given the club much more time to find a replacement,” he added.
Maybe selling Vlasic will come back to haunt Everton in the future, but it’s clear that he was highly rated at Goodison Park and now has the chance to fulfil his potential elsewhere.
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