View: Everton made big mistake selling Nikola Vlasic
Though Nikola Vlasic only played 12 times for Everton in the Premier League, the versatile attacker did prove to be an influential figure at Goodison Park.
However after Marco Silva opted to loan him out to CSKA Moscow in the summer of 2018 Vlasic never returned to Merseyside, instead signing a permanent contract with CSKA after a successful season in the Russian capital.
Since then he has gone on to star for CSKA, with the Croatia international having nine goals and five assists to his name from 20 league appearances this season [Transfermarkt].
Vlasic was an exciting young talent on Merseyside and Silva’s dismissive attitude towards him never felt right, especially given how frequently he impressed in an Everton shirt.
His eventual exit felt entirely justified from the standpoint of the player, but the Blues should never have allowed him to leave so early into his tenure with the club.
Speaking to The Athletic, Vlasic explained that he didn’t want to return to Goodison Park only to see Silva treat him the same way as he had before, with the 23-year old declaring he would have “fought to stay” if Carlo Ancelotti had been the coach at the time.
With Vlasic still at such a young age, he would likely have been an exciting star for Everton to have developed had he not left the club so soon after joining.
Similarly Sam Allardyce’s attitude towards young players at Everton saw him push Ademola Lookman out of the club instead of nurturing his burgeoning talent.
Lookman has enjoyed some degree of success with Fulham this season, though he hasn’t become so confident and impressive as Vlasic has.
Everton selling Vlasic was a mistake, not just because the club lost a talented young player, but also because it showed that the club weren’t willing to give a young player the time that he needed to improve.
Tom Davies waited a long time on the bench before breaking back into the first-team, but other young players might not have been so patient.
Everton need to take greater care with promising talent, and Vlasic serves as a warning for what could happen if they don’t.
In other Everton news, Ancelotti is prepared to sell Lucas Digne in order to secure funds to sign Tottenham defender Sergio Reguilon.