Nikola Vlašić

Nikola Vlašić (Croatian pronunciation: [nǐkola ʋlâʃitɕ];[3][4] born 4 October 1997) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Russian Premier League club CSKA Moscow and the Croatia national team.

Nikola Vlašić
Vlašić with CSKA Moscow in 2019
Personal information
Full name Nikola Vlašić[1]
Date of birth (1997-10-04) 4 October 1997[2]
Place of birth Split, Croatia
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team
 CSKA Moscow
Number 8
Youth career
2006–2009 Omladinac Vranjic
2010–2014 Hajduk Split
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2017 Hajduk Split 86 (11)
2017–2019 Everton 12 (0)
2018–2019 → CSKA Moscow (loan) 25 (5)
2019– CSKA Moscow 47 (20)
National team‡
2012–2013 Croatia U16 8 (1)
2013 Croatia U17 8 (1)
2014 Croatia U18 2 (1)
2015 Croatia U19 3 (0)
2015–2019 Croatia U21 17 (6)
2017– Croatia 17 (5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17 December 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17 November 2020

In 2014, Vlašić made list of the world's top 40 footballers born in 1997, compiled by The Guardian.[5]

Club career

Hajduk Split

Vlašić 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 Balić, 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,[6] 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 Tičinović.[7] That season, Vlašić went on to make 37 appearances in all competitions, scoring four goals.[8]

On 30 June 2016, Hajduk announced that Vlašić had been appointed vice-captain of the club, with Lovre Kalinić continuing to be the captain.[9] As Kalinić was on extended holidays as a result of being part of the Croatian squad for the UEFA Euro 2016, Vlašić captained Hajduk for the first time on 14 July, the season opening fixture; a 2–2 away draw against CSM Politehnica Iași in the second round of the 2016–17 Europa League qualifying phase.[10] Despite his tender age, Vlašić would captain the side four more times that season.

Everton

On 31 August 2017, Vlašić signed a five-year deal with Premier League club Everton for a fee of around £10 million, which is the Hajduk Split record transfer.[11][12] Vlašić impressed Everton manager Ronald Koeman and director of football Steve Walsh when Everton and Hajduk faced each other in the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League play-off round.[13] Vlašić scored his first goal for Everton on his debut at Goodison Park on 28 September in a 2–2 draw with Apollon Limassol in the Europa League.[14] He scored in the return leg on 7 December, as Everton won 3–0.[15] After making only 19 appearances in all competitions, Vlašić was told that he was not counted on by new coach Marco Silva at the end of the season.[16][17]

CSKA Moscow

On 15 August 2018, Russian club CSKA Moscow announced that Vlašić joined them on loan for the 2018–19 season.[18] Three days later, he made his league debut in a 3–0 victory over Arsenal Tula.[19] In his Champions League debut on 19 September, he scored both goals for CSKA Moscow in a 2–2 draw with Viktoria Plzeň.[20] On 2 October Vlašić scored the only goal in a 1–0 home victory against the ruling champions Real Madrid in the Champions League.[21] In the return leg on 12 December, he provided Arnór Sigurðsson with an assist for the third goal in a 3–0 victory, which is Madrid's highest ever European home defeat. Despite this, the Muscovites ended last in their group crashing out of the tournament.[22] On 28 April 2019, he was sent off in a 2–0 defeat to Krasnodar.[23] Vlašić finished the season with eight goals and seven assists.

Satisfied with his performances, CSKA announced the signing of Vlašić on a five-year contract for an undisclosed fee on 19 June from Everton.[24] On 22 September, he won and successfully converted a penalty, provided Fyodor Chalov with an assist and scored in a 3–2 victory over Krasnodar.[25] On 24 November, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Krylia Sovetov Samara.[26] On 12 December, Vlašić scored the only goal in a 1–0 away victory over Espanyol in the Europa League. Nevertheless, CSKA ended last in their group crashing out of the tournament.[27] On 30 June 2020, Vlašić scored both goals in a 2–0 derby win over Spartak Moscow.[28] He finished his second season at the club with 13 goals and seven assists, as CSKA finished fourth in the league.[29]

At the beginning of the 2020–21 season, Vlašić sparked interest from Napoli, Atalanta and Zenit Saint Petersburg; however, CSKA refused to sell the player.[30][31][32] In his first game of the season, against ruling champions Zenit on 19 August, he scored CSKA's only goal in the 2–1 defeat.[33] On 13 September, he scored in another Main Moscow derby as CSKA defeated Spartak 3–1.[34] On 21 December, Vlašić was named Russian Premier League, Russian Football Union and Sport Express Footballer of the Year. He won 251 points, 138 ahead of second-placed Aleksei Miranchuk.[35]

International career

Vlašić made his debut for the Croatia U16 at the age of 14,[36] playing regularly with older teammates at U17 and U18 levels as well. On 28 May 2017, he made his debut for the senior team in a friendly match against Mexico after being named in the starting line-up.[37] On 18 November 2018, he provided an assist to Andrej Kramarić in a UEFA Nations League match against England for a 0–1 lead, which Croatia eventually lost 2–1.[38]

Vlašić was named in Croatia's squad for UEFA Under-21 Euro 2019. He scored in a 4–1 defeat to Romania and a 3–3 draw with England, on 18 and 24 June respectively.[39]

On 6 September 2019, he scored his first goal for the senior squad in a Euro 2020 qualifying match against Slovakia for a 0–1 lead. Croatia won the game 0–4.[40] On 13 October, Vlašić scored yet another opening goal in a 1–1 draw with Wales.[41] On 16 November, he scored the equalizer against Slovakia at home, leading to Croatia's 3–1 victory and qualification for the tournament.[42]

On 11 October 2020, Vlašić scored the opener in a 2–1 UEFA Nations League victory over Sweden at Stadion Maksimir and followed it up three days later with a goal in a 2–1 loss to reigning world champions France at the same location.[43][44]

Personal life

Born in Split to the family of the athletics coach Joško Vlašić, as the younger brother of the world champion high jumper Blanka Vlašić, Nikola's future football career was viewed as his father's "project", who started training him personally ever since he was four years old.[45][46]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 17 December 2020[47]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Hajduk Split 2014–15 Prva HNL 27350—5[lower-alpha 3]1374
2015–16 23130—8[lower-alpha 3]1342
2016–17 30410—6[lower-alpha 3]0374
2017–18 6300—6[lower-alpha 3]0123
Total 861190—25212013
Everton 2017–18 Premier League 12000106[lower-alpha 3]2192
CSKA Moscow (loan) 2018–19 Russian Premier League 25500—6[lower-alpha 4]3348
CSKA Moscow 2019–20 301220—6[lower-alpha 3]13813
2020–21 17800—5[lower-alpha 3]0228
Total 722520—1749429
Career total 170351101048823343
  1. Includes Croatian Cup, FA Cup and Russian Cup
  2. Includes EFL Cup
  3. Appearances in the Europa League
  4. Appearances in the Champions League

International
As of match played 17 November 2020[48]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Croatia 201720
201820
201973
202062
Total175

International goals
Scores and results list Croatia's goal tally first.[48]
No.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1 6 September 2019Anton Malatinský Stadium, Trnava, Slovakia6 Slovakia1–04–0UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
2 13 October 2019Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff, Wales9 Wales1–01–1
3 16 November 2019Stadion Rujevica, Rijeka, Croatia10 Slovakia1–13–1
4 11 October 2020Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia14 Sweden1–02–12020–21 UEFA Nations League A
5 14 October 202015 France1–11–2

Honours

Individual

References
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  5. "Next Generation 2014: 40 of the best young talents in world football". The Guardian. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
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