West Ham new-boy Nikola Vlasic gave Hammers’ fans a glimpse of what could be to come whilst on international duty last night.
The 23-year-old was signed on deadline day from CSKA Moscow and quickly headed off to join up with the Croatia squad for the World Cup qualifiers.
Having played 90 minutes against Russia last week and from the start in the 1-0 victory over Slovakia, the latest addition to David Moyes’ squad was left on the bench for the clash with Slovenia.
Brought on with the game finely balanced in the second half, Vlasic found time to make a huge impression on proceedings and grabbed a predatory goal for his hard work.
Twitter: Nikola Vlasic vs Slovenia
stats:
35 minutes
3 shots
3 shots on target
3 key passes
1 dribble
1 goalSuper… https://t.co/5mK18smJba (@HenryTJourno)
Overall the Croatian earned an impressive 7.40 Sofascore rating on his 29th senior international outing.
So far this season Vlasic has registered one assist in five Russian Premier Liga games prior to a £26.8million switch to east London (BBC).
Meanwhile, another of West Ham’s summer signings, Kurt Zouma, was a towering presence in a strong France side that overcame Finland 2-0.
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Albeit likely to be a mainstay in David Moyes’ starting lineup, it would appear Vlasic may also be a useful player to leave on the bench from time to time.
These are exciting times for the Hammers as a host of their first-team stars jet off to play regularly for their top-tier countries, something that hasn’t necessarily always been the case in the past.
How many of the new arrivals will be thrown straight into the side for the trip to Southampton on Saturday remains to be seen, but over the coming weeks, there is sure to be a bedding-in period.
