West Ham United flop Nikola Vlasic on brink of permanent Torino move
Torino president, Urbano Cairo, is now considering the option of buying West Ham United attacker Nikola Vlasic, according to Calcio Mercato.
The Croatian international only signed for the Irons in the summer of 2021 in a big-money move from CSKA Moscow but he failed to live up to expectations at the London Stadium.
A tumultuous first season with the Hammers saw him an outcast from the side by David Moyes upon the start of the new season and Serie A side Torino opted to take a chance on him in a loan deal.
That agreement saw a buyout clause of £12.8million inserted that the Italians could trigger at any time to make the loan deal permanent and now Cairo is tempted to do so.
Vlasic has really impressed in Serie A this season to become a player that is virtually untouchable in the starting lineup now in complete contrast to his status with West Ham.
Missed opportunity
Countless Champions League appearances with CSKA Moscow should have been enough to make David Moyes realise that Vlasic has plenty of ability but he refused to waiver from what he knew.
The Scot just could not bring himself to replace Said Benrahma on the left wing for a number of games or Manuel Lanzini and Pablo Fornals in the number 10 position.
The Croatian was never going to be able to gather the momentum and rhythm he needed to succeed at the London Stadium when he was also shunned to the odd substitute appearance for five minutes.
He should have been starting games far more regularly than he did last season and then the best of him could have been seen by all but the club are now looking likely to make a big loss in just over 12 months.
Moyes has to hope that the same fate doesn’t fall on any of his summer signings this time around because serious questions will have to be asked if any of them leave for cheap in 2023.