Loaning a player out with an option to buy is always a gamble for a club hoping to get rid of a player, as there’s never an obligation for the recipients to use the footballer.
However, in the case of West Ham United and their deal with Torino for Nikola Vlasic, things couldn’t be going any better.
We’ve already covered a number of stories about the Hammers loanee since the start of the season, as he has excelled in Italy under Ivan Juric.
Working with his compatriot has completely rekindled the 25-year-old, who has three goals in nine appearances to date with the Serie A side.
Not only that, but there have already been a few reports about Torino thinking about triggering the option to buy negotiated with West Ham, which stands at €15m.
The more he plays and performs, the more likely this is to happen, and Gazzetta dello Sport explain on Friday that Vlasic is considered one of two ‘untouchables’ in the team alongside Antonio Sanabria.
Despite this, some changes could take place, as the team aren’t scoring enough, and the West Ham man could be moved into a more central position.
That won’t bother the Hammers too much as long as he’s playing, and if it gets him even more involved than he already is, Torino will soon have little to no excuse to trigger the aforementioned clause, allowing the Premier League club to recoup some of their original expenditure.
West Ham paid CSKA Moscow £27m on August 31st of last year to acquire the Croatian, who wasn’t able to establish himself under David Moyes, starting just 16 games (31 appearances overall) and scoring the one goal in a 4-1 win over Watford.
