Former Everton striker Nikola Vlasic has revealed that his current club CSKA Moscow would demand €35m (£30.1m) to even consider selling him.
The Croatian has made waves since his £14m move to the Russian capital in 2019 following an initial loan spell, with the attacking midfielder outdoing both James Rodriguez and Gylfi Sigurdsson combined over the last three years in terms of goals and assists.
Vlasic was as much a victim of the post-Ronald Koeman era as the likes of Ademola Lookman and Davy Klaasen in a transitional transfer period for the Toffees. Everton accepted a profit of just £4m from a man who made just seven senior appearances for the club, but the Toffees should be rueing his lost potential.
Indeed, the player’s father has been vindicated by his son’s form – Vlasic has 30 goals and 20 assists for CSKA since the 2018/19 season. Josko Vlasic, who is also his son’s agent, told Russian outlet Championat in 2018: “The manager made a big mistake”, referring to then-Everton boss Marco Silva’s decision to loan him out that season.
According to Area Napoli, the 23-year-old even garnered attention from Serie A giants Napoli last summer. Vlasic himself revealed to SoccerRU the extensive interest in him, as well as how much CSKA want for his services, saying:
I know that some clubs already wanted to buy me, but CSKA said they would not let me go if they didn’t pay 35 million euros for me.
This is the ransom amount in my contract. 35 million euros is a lot of money for the Russian Premier League.
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Everton fans should hope that a significant sell-on clause was agreed. Otherwise, their £4m profit on Vlasic will look increasingly meagre for a rising star whose return of eight goals in 17 league games this season shows that he remains a man in fine form.
Impatience and ignorance may cost the Toffees dearly as they look on at a flourishing player to whom they barely gave an opportunity to prove his worth at Goodison Park.
