West Ham recruitment focus on Vlasic again

What are we going to do about Nikola Vlašić ?

Bought for £25 million in 2021 on a five year deal,  he plays only 19 games and then is farmed off to the Serie A side Torino. A classic example of West Ham`s sometimes disastrous recruit policy, which hopefully will be a thing of the past when our new technical director Tim Steidten takes up the reins.

I digress. Vlašić has always been highly thought of, indeed he made The Guardian’s Next Generation list in 2015. An attacking midfielder who you would have thought would have made a fine addition to the Hammers ranks.

But now currently on loan at Torino, there appears to be a deadlock in him making the move permanent.

Quite rightly the Hammers are holding out for a chance to recoup at least a goodly portion of what they originally shelled out.

But the point is ,much like the case with Gianluca Scamacca , we really must process more due diligence on prospective transfer targets to avoid needless cash losses. This is presumably why Tim Steidten has been appointed.

A touch of shutting the stable gate once the horse has bolted?