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Ivan Juric praised Nikola Vlasic after the team’s 2-0 win over Sampdoria on Wednesday, which did nothing but help his chances of landing a £12 million permanent transfer to Serie A.
Vlasic recently displayed his defensive prowess in a standout victory over reigning Scudetto holders AC Milan, but in midweek, he was back to doing what he does best at the other end of the field, moving the Granata up to ninth with a Man of the Match performance during a convincing win against struggling Samp.
After making a deft pass to set up Radonjic’s opening goal, Vlasic doubled the advantage by whirling on a dime and curling the ball into the bottom corner.
The Croatian has has four goals and three assists in 15 games for Torino. Already more than he accomplished throughout the entire 2021–2022 season at West Ham.
“Is Vlasic our top player? He is a great player. He does everything well in the defensive phase,” says Juric, who was been linked recently with the Nottingham Forest job.
“Against (Milan’s Sandro) Tonali, he played an amazing game playing as a midfielder. And today he played central, doing very well. I like him. He’s a good player.”
Calciomercato claims that Vlasic’s contract with Torino includes a £12 million option to purchase clause. The former Everton misfit is obviously making a great impression at Juventus’ local rivals, even though president Urbano Cairo declined to be drawn on whether or not they plan to activate it.
“At the moment, there is no kind of hypothesis about the market,” Cairo says. “We are on the fourteenth game (of the season). Talking about the market now is really very early.
“(Vlasic is doing) very well. He is very good and very strong. I like him very much too, but let’s wait and see. The season is long. I am very satisfied with him.”
Vlasic was signed by West Ham from CSKA Moscow in 2021 for £25 million. The Hammers will incur a £13 million loss on a player who, for whatever reason, tends to thrive anywhere but England if he decides to make his stay at Torino permanent.
