World Cup Super-Sub Should Be West Ham Priority

The West Ham collective on social media groaned in unison when the loan deal for Nikola Vlasic was announced this past summer. To his credit, the Croatian midfielder has thrived in Serie A so far and has also now put together a strong World Cup campaign. Now, can the Hammers do anything to get him back?

Coming off the bench for Croatia and playing a near-starring role for Torino, Nikola Vlasic has been a man of interest this season. His loan, with a buy option of just £12.5m, had gone terrifically, but for West Ham all this means is a bitter and likely inevitable pill they’ll have to swallow when Torino activates the buy option.

West Ham can avoid embarrassment and a two-fold loss by bringing home their loaned out midfield star.

After being purchased from CSKA Moscow just a year and a half ago for £25.4m, the business on this deal is atrocious and screams a David Sullivan masterclass, but don’t forget the necessary David Moyes slander on this move as well.

Moyes, who hand-picked Vlasic as one of his marquee signings ahead of last season, has always mentioned that he has the final say on players coming in and leaving the club. That means he okayed the transfer, then pulled the trigger on him leaving for a £13m loss.

The revival of Vlasic has been at the ignorance of Moyes. Forcing Vlasic to play left-midfield or right-midfield almost exclusively off the bench was never going to work and shame on Moyes for only deploying the player in that awful situation.

It figures that the Torino manager, Ivan Jurić, is also Croatian and likely talked to Vlasic about the move prior to it happening. This may be why Vlasic has played as a center-attacking midfielder in all but five matches this season, spurring on his four-goal, three-assist season thus far for Torino.

Acting as a super sub, Vlasic has brought energy to his World Cup squad off the bench. His role is actually similar to the one he played at West Ham, but the end goal is certainly more motivating in Qatar.

There are only a few ways Moyes can make up for his mistake and bring Niksi home – a season-ending injury crops up (hopefully not), his wages are too big for Torino, or Vlasic wants a chance at redemption in the Premier League… oh or Moyes gets sacked. For now, we can all support the Croatian who is still technically a West Ham player and hope that he wants a return to the Claret and Blue.