Torino director Davide Vagnati is thrilled about the arrival of West Ham United loanee Nikola Vlasic after a spell in the Premier Leauge that ‘didn’t go as expected’, speaking to DAZN.
You can say that again.
Vlasic might have failed to make much of an impression at Everton between 2017 and 2019 but there were certainly a couple of mitigating factors for that ill-fated spell at Goodison Park. The sacking of Ronald Koeman just a couple of weeks after the Croatian’s arrival certainly didn’t make his adaptation to life on English soil any easier.
He was still a teenager at the time too; a 19-year-old arriving as a relative unknown from hometown club Hajduk Split.
Vlasic certainly had fewer excuses at his disposal when leaving West Ham in August; after after a grand total of six Premier League starts and just one goal under David Moyes. At 24, and following a couple of stellar seasons at CSKA Moscow, Vlasic was supposed to prove his doubters wrong at West Ham. Insert John Steinbeck quote here.
Vlasic’s fine form since arriving in Italy has certainly offered a timely reminder of the playmaker’s undoubted talent. But after two failed spells on English soil, it seems unlikely he’ll get a third chance to make his mark.
Has Nikola Vlasic already played his final game for West Ham United?
“Did we expect him (to play) like this?,” asks Vagnati, having signed the Split-born midfielder on loan with a £12 million option-to-buy clause included in his Torino contract.
“He is one of those players who combines technical and physical qualities. 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.”
Vlasic scored in three successive Serie A appearances for the Granata before Torino fired a blank in the weekend’s 1-0 defeat to Inter Milan. Carry on like this and that £12 million purchase-clause surely won’t go, for want of a better word, un-triggered for long.
“Vlasic is a very strong player,” adds Torino president Urbano Cairo. “He has already scored three goals. I didn’t know him. (His arrival) is all thanks to Vagnati and (head coach Ivan) Juric, who knew him very well.
“He has great quality and intelligence. Spectacular.”
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