West Ham United’s attacking midfielder Nikola Vlasic could be in for a bit of bother at the London Stadium as links have emerged surrounding Ludovic Blas.

Vlasic has struggled to make it into the side this season after his move last summer, with just five starts to his name in the Premier League – with the rest coming in a variety of cup competitions.

When you’re up against the likes of Jarrod Bowen, Said Benrahma, Manuel Lanzini and Pablo Fornals for a place in the side, all of whom have put up impressive numbers this season, it is always going to be hard for him to get a look-in. But according to reports, things could be about to get a little bit trickier for him with the Hammers possibly bringing a new face into proceedings.

According to a report from an Italian journalist, West Ham are interested in signing FC Nantes attacking midfielder Blas. The Frenchman has been putting up some impressive numbers at his current club, scoring 30 goals and chipping in with eight goals in his 99 appearances since the 2019/20 season.

Galetti also states that the Hammers are set to face some competition from fellow Premier League side Newcastle United, but with the Hammers in the race for European football this season, they might just be in a position to jump ahead of them this summer before Newcastle take on the next stage of their transformation under the Saudi Arabian ownership.

Over before it even started for Vlasic?

As a result of Vlasic’s lack of minutes as pointed out above, he’s only managed to bag one goal and two assists this campaign and struggled to put up numbers elsewhere, as he’s averaging just 0.3 shots, 0.4 key passes and 0.5 dribbles per game, although is managing to record a pass completion rate of 81.1%, but that’s based on just 9.9 passes per game (via WhoScored).

So it’s fair to say that he hasn’t exactly had the chance to make the best impression at the club, so if the club are able to bring in Blas and he can recreate his prolific form, it might be harder for the £24.3m-rated Vlasic to get a look-in moving forward.

TIF Verdict…

Whilst it might be a little bit harsh or West Ham United to just toss Vlasic aside after one season, if they want to move on as a club, they can’t afford to have people on board that won’t bring them forward.

And even though they spent a lot on him – reportedly £26.8m plus add-ons – if they can sell him on and recoup at least some of that money to spend on someone that can have more of an impact on the side, then it’s something that they should be looking to do.

Whether that ends up being the case or if he’ll be given more of a chance next season, we’ll just have to wait and see.

In other news: £10.8m-rated West Ham star could now face uncertain future as big claim emerges – opinion