Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho got three of the four signings that he wanted for his side last summer, in the forms of Victor Lindelof, Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic. The trio had varying levels of success in their debut season at Old Trafford, with Lindelof struggling for a place in the team, Lukaku bagging 27 goals and Matic’s form varying at points during the campaign. But neither represented a flop, which must have pleased United’s board given the price for all three combined came in at way over £100m.
But Mourinho was still dissatisfied, given that United failed to land his fourth target; Inter Milan’s Ivan Perisic. The club’s thinking appeared to be that given the Croatian international’s age (29) and his asking price (£50m), the deal was simply too expensive to complete, given that there would be limited resale value. As such, a deal was abandoned, and Perisic remained in Italy.
Still, one of the player’s fellow countrymen, former Liverpool midfielder Igor Biscan has suggested that Perisic still has enough quality to make himself a success at United, should the club return for his services.
Speaking to BetStars, Biscan offered the following:
“It says a lot about a player when Jose Mourinho wants to sign them. Ivan Perisic certainly has enough quality to play there [at Manchester United]. Similarly to (Ante) Rebic, he is very direct, very strong and he can score goals with both feet. He provides guaranteed quality and it wouldn’t take much for him to adapt his game to the Premier League.”
Given that Mourinho seemed perturbed at United’s reluctance to pay over the odds for Perisic last season, it would be something of a surprise to see a deal being resurrected. The Croat has performed well during this summer’s World Cup, however, which might push the former Chelsea boss to make a renewed push for his services.
