By Dave Langton
West Ham are facing up to making a huge loss on Nikola Vlasic this summer.
But boss David Moyes is seemingly willing to do so on the Croatia international, who has struggled immensely throughout his time at the London Stadium without being given little chance to show what he may or may not have. 
Signed for £27m last summer, he made just six starts in the Premier League and scored only one goal, in a 4-1 win over Watford, who were relegated.
Moyes would happily sell Vlasic this summer but there are significant doubts over whether any club will be willing to pay anything close to the £27m he was signed for – £2.7 million may be closer.
Vlasic’s asking price is further enlarged by the fact that he signed a five-year contract when he arrived, tying him to the Hammers until 2026.
The Hammers have previously seen big-money signings leave for a significant loss, with the most notable perhaps being Seb Haller. He arrived for £45m and was sold for £20m, a fee that arrived in instalments from Ajax.
And Vlasic’s situation is remarkably similar but it is unlikely that a club will be as willing to take him as Ajax were to take Haller.
Moyes may well be stuck with an albatross around his neck, here as was the case with Jordan Hugill!
More than a tad worrying methinks!
have we actually paid for him? As he came from CSK Moscow who are now sanctioned we cannot make any more payments to them, assuming as normal these days, that the transfer fee was to be paid in installments. Is he even our player to sell?
If we buy a player and play them out of position, similar to Benrahma, Moyes only has himself to blame, look at Haller as another example, bought a player then put them in a system completely unsuited to their skills, Vlasic and Benrahma are good players but they need to be more central and play in a much more open team, Benrahma looks good when we break at pace and there is space to play, he is less good when the team is super compact and defensive in shape, neither he or Vlasic is brilliant at helping their defender out although both try hard, really they should both be used when we are either 1 or two ahead or behind then they can exploit the spaces and open up other teams or score.
any deal for 5 years is crazy, it always has the potential of becoming a carrol, wilshire type of scenario, will we never learn, especially in football, an industry that can change a players fortune in one tackle, like lanzini, ogbonna, please stop this craziness.
We need to get in someone who knows about players prices and how good they are certainly not moyes getting in a poor player from the Russian league. Let Newman do the deals with the board and if moyes don’t like it jog on stubborn man.
Haller isn’t an apt comparison, he was signed by a previous manager and he didn’t suit Moyes’s system, he just wasn’t dynamic enough and if you watch him at Ajax it’s still the same except you can be a statue in that league and bag 20 goals a season. Vlasic stinks of a Sullivan signing, someone unscouted who has been touted to us. Moyes tends to play his signings, Dawson Lingard, Soucek, Coufal, Bowen, Zouma…they all played, Benrahama is blatently a Sullivan signing and had to sit out of the team. On subject of Benrahama, he’s so inconsistent, one week he looks a world beater, next 2 games every fan is screaming to hook him at half time. My point is, Moyes wants the players he wants and will freeze out players he doesn’t and thats fair, the culture of board interferrence needs to change.
Sullivan cant do that now as he is not chief shafegolder and you believe Moyes would allow that. No way
He was chief shareholder when Vlasic was purchased and yes I think it could happen and that’s why Moyes doesn’t play him. I think your Moyes bashing has got you a bit blind to the fact that he does always use his own signings.
I’m mot a Mopyes basher at all. I have said many times Ill judge him at the end of window
Might as well keep him and fill out the squad. Fine on and off the bench. At least Moyes was willing to give him 5 mins every 8 games. Better than Kral or the kids.
I’m not quite sure what disaster means in the case of Vlasic. If you look around most Premier League clubs, there are much bigger signings on Mega wages, that haven’t worked out for one reason or another.
Premier League football is different to anywhere else in Europe or the world for that matter and it does take time to adjust for most players. Regardless of whether Moyes decides to stick or twist regarding Vlasic, we need to remain calm about this rumour.
In my view, he has played a bit part this season and is most definitely a player of ability, so it may be worth cooling the jets for now and wait and see before getting too fizzy about these rumours.
Unfortunately for Vlasic, who is clearly a skilful player, on the rare occasions when Moyes gives him game time he plays him out of position, on the wing. His natural role is a central midfielder., but when have we seen him operating there for West Ham? Like Benrahma he suffers from Moyes’s rigid tactical system, so whereas both could assist with a Plan B, as the manager doesn’t have one neither of them is playing to their strengths when they are on the pitch. Both are good players but aren’t allowed to show it within the constraints imposed on them.
We always seem to criticise the same old villains, how about the wheels fell off Fornals game last few months lots of commitment but not much skill or decisions are poor, Lanzini was pushed off nearly every ball, same period, Soucek points well after he passes back, Cressy pays like a crab and never takes on the opposition, however a great crosser. we should learn to play out from the midfield not the backline or goalkeeper. How about the taboo subject Moysey, maybe needs to learn about tactics, plan B and c and how to substitute
Well sadly Vlasic and Kral have to be discarded as Moyes signed them and has opted to not play them, his players, his choice. If he played them out of position, like Soucek, then his fault to correct. The issue is that DM needs to act decisively now and recruit who he wants in. Stop whining and start acting Sir