WEST HAM have signed Croatian star Nikola Vlasic for £26million plus add-ons from CSKA Moscow.
The 23-year-old attacking midfielder has signed a five-year deal with the option of a sixth.
The £26m fee could rise to £33.4m if certain criteria are hit.
Vlasic has 26 Croatia caps and spent two years on Everton’s books from 2017-19. But he failed to make an impact at Goodison.
The Toffees signed Vlasic from Hajduk Split in 2017 after he emerged from the Croatian side’s academy.
But he managed just two goals and one assist from 19 games in the 17-18 season and was loaned out to CSKA for the next campaign.
After eight goals and seven assists in 31 games for the Russians, they made the deal permanent at the end of the 18-19 season where he has been since.
He was named the 2020 Footballer of the Year in Russia and won three Russian Player of the Month awards in his time at CSKA.
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Vlasic played four times for Croatia at Euro 2020 and went head-to-head with new team-mate Declan Rice as the Three Lions won 1-0 in their tournament opener at Wembley.
Jesse Lingard has been heavily linked with a Hammers return this summer but with Said Benrahma and now Vlasic on the books in his position, that move seems unlikely.
Vlasic scored 12 and laid on six assists in all competitions for CSKA last season.
He also played five games in the Europa League and that experience will be vital for the East Londoners.
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David Moyes’ side begin their first ever Europa League group stage campaign next month with games against Dinamo Zagreb, Genk and Rapid Vienna.
Vlasic becomes West Ham’s third signing of the summer after Alphonse Areola (loan) and Kurt Zouma arrived from Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea respectively.
West Ham said: “Everyone at West Ham United would like to wish Nikola every success for his career in claret and blue.”
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