Peter Lynch

Thu 27 April 2023 8:10, UK

Torino are expected to ask for a discount on the €13million (£11.5million) purchase option for West Ham loanee Nikola Vlasic, according to Tuttosport.

The attacker is currently on a season-long loan at the Serie A club, where he has made 30 appearances in all competitions.

The 25-year-old has, however, reportedly failed to fully convince his temporary club that he is worth the £11.5million purchase option included in his loan deal.

“Now Vlasic’s season can experience a new phase,” according to Tuttosport. “Yes, because in the last seven rounds of the championship he must conquer the permanence at Toro. Definitely complicated: the amount to be paid to West Ham (€13million) is really high.

“He proved it on the pitch: he is certainly a valid player, but still discontinuous and in search of an identity that he must find as he travels towards his twenty-sixth birthday.

“The grenades can leverage a discount from the English, but the Hammers’ recent woes are now behind them, given that David Moyes’s formation is one step away from salvation.”

Uncertain future

Vlasic is currently just one Torino match away from equalling the number of matches he played for West Ham, in what was a very underwhelming one and only season in East London so far.

The Croatian international only registered one goal and two assists for the Hammers, tallies he has already surpassed in Italy, with four goals and five assists so far.

But those tallies are still below par for a player who is largely adopting an attacking midfield role, or even a central forward role on some occasions.

With Moyes’s future also up in the air, it remains to be seen what will happen to Vlasic at the end of the season.

West Ham need all the help they can get in these trying times, but right now they are getting on fine from an attacking point of view without Vlasic.

Fortunately he is still young at the age of 25, and therefore still has plenty of time to get his club career back on track.