David Moyes predicts a bright future at West Ham for Nikola Vlasic
David Moyes believes that West Ham summer signing Nikola Vlasic is set for a big role in the coming games.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference (via Claret & Hugh), the Scotsman revealed his thoughts on the 24-year-old Croatian after a stop-start beginning to his time at the London Stadium.
Vlasic has only played three Premier League games, and he has only started one of them; however, it is clear that Moyes has big plans for Vlasic.
He said: “He can play off the sides, but you can play as a ten as well. I think his goals numbers are much bigger than what he was then; I think he’s probably needed a couple of years to grow and mature and give himself a chance to do it. He’s done that in Russia. So I’m looking forward to getting him involved in playing.
“I see him as being a big player in the games to come. But again, it’s like anything else. We took a while to get Said bedded in last year. You know we’ll have to give Nic the same opportunity to come in and out and give him the games at the right time.”
A positive message from Moyes.
It is pretty clear from this message that Vlasic is rated highly by Moyes and his staff, and it might just take a bit of time to get him up and running.
Remember, he joined from CSKA Moscow, and we can’t say that the Russian league is close to the Premier League’s standard.
Therefore, we can see why Vlasic might take a little bit of time to adapt to his new surroundings.
However, this is a positive message from Moyes to the Croatian, and we think he is going to be patient with him, which proved to be the right thing to do with Said Benrahma.
The Irons signed the Algerian initially on loan in the 2020 summer window and slowly eased him into life.
This season though, he has made nine appearances and has returned four goals and two assists, so the patient approached work with Benrahma and can work with Vlasic.
In other West Ham news, Declan Rice will not be joining Newcastle United any time soon.
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