SHARE

On Tuesday, we covered an article looking at how Nikola Vlasic, currently on loan at Torino from West Ham United, had struggled for form since returning from the World Cup.

The player, who has been a key member of Ivan Juric’s plans ever since he arrived from London Stadium, has failed to find the back of the net or pick up an assist in the last seven league games, which is uncommon for him.

This will, in turn, be a concern for West Ham, as the aim of this deal was for Torino to be impressed and eventually trigger the €15m option to buy to keep him permanently.

The general consensus is that Vlasic is simply suffering from a bit of fatigue after what has been a very busy past few months for him, and bit of rest should do him good.

Still, there are some who have completely overlooked the dip in form, and are adamant that Torino must pay West Ham the money to keep the Croatia international around.

That is the view of Riccardo Maspero, who was asked by Corriere Torino about the West Ham loanee: “This year, the World Cup has led to an anomalous league. He is not the only one among those who have played it who has not returned in the same conditions as before. However, his technical qualities cannot be disputed.”

The same question then was put to him about another loanee, Aleksei Miranchuk: “He is very good, but sometimes tends to withdraw from the game. He has a great left foot. Now he needs to be able to read the moments of the season with more continuity.

“Much of Turin’s fortunes pass through him. Both he and Vlasic are players that I would redeem. Then different types of dynamics take over that are up to the club to evaluate.”