Speaking on The West Ham Way podcast, @ExWHUemployee spoke about the Hammers’ interest in Nikola Vlasic.
The Croatian attacker was part of his national side’s squad that faced England at Euro 2020 and has been playing his football out in Russia for CSKA Moscow since 2018 when he left Everton, initially on loan.
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West Ham were experiencing a relatively quiet window, but it appears that it may be about to burst into life in the final stages, with Kurt Zouma having recently joined the club and Hammers insider Ex offering his insight on a reported bid for Vlasic, who is thought to cost around €30m (£25.7m).
Ex spoke at length about Vlasic potentially coming to West Ham.
“We’ve put in a €30m bid plus €8m in add-ons for a new player. Whilst I haven’t had the name officially 100% confirmed, I’m pretty sure that it is Nikola Vlasic from CSKA Moscow, he’s a Croatian midfielder who came off the bench to play England in the Euros.
“He’s a very talented midfielder, can play in a number of positions, including up front, apparently. He did have a spell at Everton which wasn’t particularly successful.
“But it was whilst he was at Everton that he first became known to David Moyes because obviously, at the time, lots of the staff that David Moyes had worked with at Everton were still involved in Everton and involved in recruitment.
“So Moyes knows these people and has gone back and forth to get a second opinion on him. He’s smashed it in Moscow in Russia, I know that’s not the greatest league, but he’s also done it on the international stage and in European competition, apparently. So he is a good player, I’m told his wages are about £66,000 I think, so let’s round it up to £70,000.”
TIF Thoughts on West Ham going for Vlasic…
Despite links still suggesting that West Ham are still interested in Jesse Lingard, Vlasic can play in a similar position to the England international, and with age on the side of the Croatian, he could be the player Moyes has opted for over last season’s star man.
Vlasic is still just 23 years old but he appears to have found his feet out in Russia, having netted double figures in the league in back-to-back seasons for CSKA Moscow, and in comparison to zero league goals in 12 matches for Everton during the 2017/18 campaign just highlights how he may be a better player in the Premier League the second time around if Moyes follows through on his apparent interest.