Nikola Vlasic

Nikola Vlasic (Croatian pronunciation: [nikola ʋlaʃitɕ]; born 4 October 1997) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Premier League club West Ham United and the Croatia national team.

Born in the famous Croatian sports family Vlasic, Nikola is a youth product of Hajduk Split academy. He made his senior debut in summer 2014, making The Guardian's Next Generation list later that year. In 2017, his performances earned him a move to Everton; however, after an unsuccessful season, he was loaned out to CSKA Moscow who made the move permanent upon the end of the season.

Vlasic made his international debut in 2017, before becoming a regular international after Croatia's 2018 World Cup campaign, also featuring at UEFA Euro 2020.

Club Career

Hajduk Split

Vlasic joined the Omladinac Vranjic academy, before he was brought to Hajduk Split, aged 12. He excelled at youth club level, and in the 2013–14 season he formed a potent midfield partnership for the Hajduk U17 team with Andrija Balic, which resulted in the team finishing the first half of the season in first place, without a single loss. The two then received and signed professional contracts, and were moved to the U19 team, where he played regularly.

He made his first team debut in the UEFA Europa League qualifying match on 17 July 2014, playing in the away match against Dundalk. Scoring on his debut, he became Hajduk Split's youngest scorer in international competitions, aged 16 years and 9 months, 2 months less than the previous record holder Mario Ticinovic. That season, Vlasic went on to make 37 appearances in all competitions, scoring four goals.

On 30 June 2016, Hajduk announced that Vlasic had been appointed vice-captain of the club, with Lovre Kalinic continuing to be the captain. As Kalinic was on extended holidays as a result of being part of the Croatian squad for the UEFA Euro 2016, Vlasic captained Hajduk for the first time on 14 July, the season opening

This page also has a version in other languages :  Никола Влашич (russian)