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West Ham United to offload 'bitter disappointment Nikola Vlasic
David Moyes is preparing an overhaul of his West Ham United squad this summer and Nikola Vlasic could be one of the players on his way out.
According to The Mirror, the Croatian international is seen as a “bitter disappointment” at Rush Green and they are keen to get him off their books in the summer and try to recuperate some of the £28million they spent on him less than one year ago from CSKA Moscow.
The manager wants plenty of new additions having not spent a penny in January with a central defender, striker and depth in wide areas high on his agenda as well as a potential central midfielder to replace the retiring Mark Noble.
Vlasic signed a five-year deal towards the end of the 2021 summer transfer window, taking him to July of 2026 [Transfer Markt] but he scored just once in all competitions for the Irons in 31 appearances.
Second chance
His first season in the Premier League admittedly hasn’t gone as well as anybody was hoping and the 24-year-old would be the first to say it.
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But we have to be a little more understanding of his situation and realise that not every player can hit the ground running immediately after making a big career move like this.
Vlasic has been the victim of Moyes’ unwillingness to rotate and experiment for much of the season having been stuck on the bench behind the likes of Said Benrahma and Pablo Fornals.
He has shown glimpses of ability every now and then but what he really needs is a full pre-season with the Hammers and to be given the chance to prove his critics wrong.
We’ve got no rush to sell with such a long time left on his deal so if we just allow him some space and time to improve, we will quickly see the true potential of the Croatian and that will be a glorious sight.
In other West Ham news, Sonny Perkins is banging on the door of the first team after an award-winning April for the under-23s.
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