Vlasic joins Torino leaving Hammers squad two down!

West Ham have confirmed that Nikola Vlašić has joined Torino on loan as we reported was very likely to be the case yesterday (Wed).

It means that so far this summer the Hammers have seen seven outfield players leave and five arrive so in terms of squad size we are two down on where we were last term.

Vlasic was preceded by Alex Kral, Issa Diop Arthur Masuaku, Andriy Yarmolenko, Ryan Fredricks and the retired Mark Noble.

Vlasic was a £27 million arrival at a time when most were expecting the manager to be successful in bringing back Jesse Lingard who finally chose to join Nottingham Forest,

Now Vlasic – like Felipe Anderson before him – will be remembered with regret by the fans after a pretty sizeable transfer fee was paid by the club

The 24-year-old heads to the Italian Serie A side on an initial season-long loan deal, with the option to make the move permanent next summer.

The Croatia international  linked up with the Hammers in summer 2021 from CSKA Moscow and has since made 31 appearances, scoring once in the 4-1 Premier League win at Watford in December last year.

Vlašić will be hoping to help Torino improve on their tenth place finish from last term under head coach and fellow Croatian Ivan Jurić.