West Ham lost more than £27 million on a failure who made more money than Declan Rice.

After a torturous sequence of defeats, West Ham United was left broken and bruised. However, they have bounced back like champions in their last games, winning convincingly over Brentford and Everton in the Premier League.

Averted crisis? Without a doubt. With a strong team and manager David Moyes, who has overseen every recent burst of success, West Ham are in a strong position going into the final stretch of the season.

Although Declan Rice was sold in the summer, West Ham made smart investments and are now performing better domestically than they were the previous season. They are also in the final 16 of the Europa League.
All of the recent arrivals appear to be winners, with Moyes’ victory at the London Stadium being largely attributed to the improved accuracy in the market.

However, he hasn’t always made the right decisions; throughout the previous few years, Nikola Vlasic may have represented the low point of the team’s transfer activity.

The amount that West Ham spent for Nikola Vlasic

Vlasic was signed by West Ham from CSKA Moskow in August 2021 for an initial sum of £27 million, with the option of a further £8 million.

The 23-year-old Croatian international wanted a second chance at the league since he had previously played in the Premier League for Everton but had struggled under difficult circumstances.

After his decisive stay in the capital, Jesse Lingard’s arrival ended any expectations that he would return to east London, but after registering 12 goals and six assists in Russia, there was optimism that he could lead the Hammers to greater things.

The 26-year-old was a complete failure.

The salary of Nikola Vlasic at West Ham
Vlasic played 31 games for West Ham before quitting with his head between his legs. He mostly started as a left wing and scored one goal and provided two assists before being called “wasteful” by Roshane Thomas of The Athletic.

Under Moyes’ direction, Vlasic was unable to deliver the kind of performances that were necessary for success: according to Sofascore, he averaged just 0.5 crucial passes, 8.6 passes, 0.6 tackles, 0.5 dribbles, and 2.2 successful duels per game.

It was a disastrous signing, particularly in light of the fact that Vlasic earned a hefty £70k a week, £10k more than players like Jarrod Bowen and Rice, who were both earning £60k at the time.

It’s depressing reading, especially in light of the fact that Rice won the Europa Conference League and went on to win the first of his two Player of the Year awards for West Ham before making the massive deal that gave Moyes the money he needed to restructure the team last summer.

Naturally, none of this accounts for any possible add-ons, but Vlasic’s time at West Ham was hardly successful, so it’s unlikely that he activated any such stipulations.

Moyes will undoubtedly be proud of his time at West Ham, but there’s no denying that the signing of Vlasic was a mistake along the way.