Nikola Vlašić. Remember him? The Croatian midfielder arrived at West Ham in 2021 for a hefty fee and departed not long after, barely making a dent under David Moyes, who quickly decided he wasn’t a good fit. But while his time at the club was forgettable, the financial fallout is anything but.
West Ham are now locked in a three-year legal wrangle with CSKA Moscow over millions still owed from the £23 million deal. The issue? UK government sanctions against Russia have frozen any possibility of payments due to CSKA’s links with VEB Bank, a state-owned entity caught in the sanction net following the invasion of Ukraine.
A second instalment of €8.55 million (£7.25m) was due back in July 2022, but West Ham argued it was legally impossible to send money without breaching UK law. FIFA didn’t buy it—ordering the Hammers to pay up or face a transfer ban. But West Ham took it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and won.
CAS ruled by a 2-1 majority that the club couldn’t be expected to violate sanctions or conjure up an escrow account FIFA couldn’t even manage itself. The result? A potentially indefinite payment delay, much to CSKA’s frustration.
The Russian club now say they may appeal to Switzerland’s Supreme Court, but for now, the money stays put—and West Ham can continue registering players.
So Vlašić might be long gone—but the transfer saga is still very much alive and kicking.
Westham’s hands are legally tied . And what’s 7 million compared to the 10’s of billions of destruction and millions of lives affected by Russian aggression . I would incinerate all of Russia . Job done .
Just shows what a stupid lot are in charge at Fifa. It seems you get to be in charge of football, be it F.A. or Fifa and all comman sense is locked out of the room.
A very Moyes transfer, Vlasic was very expensive and never going to fit into Moyes ball. Virtually never played and given away.
The present rot started with Moyes inability to manage transfer windows and so often end up with the same aging players playing every game.
He was great with making the most of what of what he’d got but blew the possibility of building on the monumental European success.
Pay the money to FIFA and then let them transfer it on to CSKA Moscow. It’s not our fault that the government imposed sanctions like its not CSKA’s fault that their government went to war. Doing it this way, we are not breaching any sanctions, and CSKA get their money.
Oh yeah, how silly of me, totally forgot we’re skint.🤣🤣
Trouble is that FIFA will want 20% broker fee for laundering this illegal payment.
120% skint??
Another player who passed the Moyes MOT who was a complete waste of money.
Having a Sporting Director responsible for coach and players is the only way to prevent us making repeat mistakes.
Agreed ☝️
A big factor for our unbalanced squad is letting coaches pick players.
Brighton’s vision / strategy of attracting coaches and players that fit in to that structure prevents dismal seasons like the one Sullivan just served up.
We wouldn’t have wasted £23m on Nikola Vlašić,
£30m on Zouma, £30m on Ward-Prowse, £40m on Kilman, £18m on Cornet, £15m on Ings and high wages for players like Rodriguez.
The above list is just a few off the top of my head, but surely the £156m spent above could’ve been invested more wisely if coaches & Sullivan had ZERO input on recruitment.
If you factor in Haller & Scamacca the total we’ve wasted on poor recruitment is over £230m!
100% nail on the head!
Why do you feel the need to make remarks about these players. You should be campaigning to abolish transfers fees, it’s a form of slavery.
Set these players free, and payup on their wages. Support Human Rights. All should be free.
What is Mark Noble’s role?