“We already knew he would do well here” – Club’s general director ‘thankful’ to Everton for easy transfer

Pushed to one side at Everton, Nikola Vlasic needed to get some first-team under his belt, which CSKA Moscow in Russia were prepared to offer him.

Featuring in the Champions League, the Premier Liga club were a great opportunity for the Croatia international, who jumped at the chance of elite European football.

He impressed during his time there, and after the initial loan successful spell CSKA decided to buy the rights of Vlasic from the Merseyside club for €15.7m this summer.

The move went relatively under the radar, and that was due to the smooth negotiations between Everton and the Russian side.

In fact, Roman Babaev, CSKA’s general director, expressed his gratitude towards Everton’s board because of their approach (via Championat): “Vlasic is a player we’ve known very well. He was with us last season and performed very well. So that’s a different transfer scenario compared to signing a player for the first time because we already knew that he will do well here because he showed that last year. We are thankful to Everton’s board and we think we have agreed quite adequately”.

After his permanent switch to CSKA Moscow, Vlasic has made eight appearances for his club so far in the Russian League, scoring two goals in the process.

He signed five-year contract upon his arrival that will keep him in Russia capital until 2024.