If recent reports are to be believed, Manchester United are likely to suffer a massive transfer blow in their pursuit of Inter Milan’s Ivan Perisic. The Croatian midfielder has been on Jose Mourinho’s transfer list for a long time now but the Serie A giants are equally adamant in holding on to their star player.
With arch-rivals AC Milan making some huge upgrades to their squad this summer with critics touting them as one of the title challengers, Inter will have to keep up with the pace and holding on to their star players is the best way to do it.
Clarifying that the claims of Perisic and Antonio Candreva are not for sale, Inter Milan’s sporting director Piero Ausilio told Mediaset Premium, said “I don’t understand where some of these stories come from. Candreva has never been on the market and we have absolutely no intention of selling him. The same goes for Perisic, who is an important player and we are currently discussing a new contract with him.”
United manager Jose Mourinho has brought in Romelu Lukaku from Everton, Victor Lindelof from Benfica and Nemanja Matic from Chelsea this summer and has done some serious business this summer But, he is still short of a player as he is looking for a winger to provide competition for the likes of Anthony Martial on the left flank.
And 28-year-old Perisic seemed a perfect fit for Mourinho. The Croatian midfielder managed to score 11 goals and provide 11 assists in 36 Serie A appearances last season reflecting why Inter want him so badly. In the 187cm, one can find all the attributes for a perfect forward. He can win aerial duels, provide key passes from the centre as well as from the flanks, and also possesses tremendous dribbling skills.
His amazing versatility in the attacking third also makes him one of the perfect options for Mourinho, who was seen shuffling Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford and Martial last season. Perisic is also deadly from set pieces and provides some of the most mouth-watering crosses in Europe. Inter have rejected two bids from United and the Red Devils are unlikely to stretch any further.
The Serie A outfit has been dragging the deal for too long and if Mourinho’s recent statements are anything to go by, United have already pulled out of the race. Speaking about his recent take on the transfer market that is being ruled by the sellers, Mourinho said, “We are not a club that is not ready to buy and buy and buy non-stop. We are not a club that is ready to pay what clubs wants us to pay, so I am ready to go from four to three.”
Mourinho clearly has enough reinforcements to work his way without Perisic with the likes of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Lingard, Rashford and Martial and will hope not to run into similar injury crisis that he saw last season.
