Perisic makes stunning admission over Man Utd transfer

Joe Williams

Inter Milan forward Ivan Perisic admits he wanted to join Manchester United in the summer but changed his mind at the last minute.

The Croatian has been continuously linked with a move to Old Trafford over the last year or so with Jose Mourinho, who rates him highly, reportedly unhappy in the summer at the club’s failure to land him and other top targets.

The Evening Standard claimed in October that Inter were prepared to part company with the the 29-year-old for £48million in 2017, but the report states that United vice chairman Ed Woodward and other members of the club’s hierarchy were unwilling to go above their £45million valuation of the player.

However, a Calciomercato report 11 days ago said that Inter are open to selling the powerful winger and will now accept €35million for Perisic.

And now Perisic has risked upsetting Inter fans by saying that he wanted to swap the San Siro for Manchester.

The 29-year-old told Italian journalist Alessandro Rimi that it was only the intervention of Luciano Spalletti that stopped him from leaving.

“I wanted Manchester United and I was about to accept, but I chose to stay because of Spalletti’s perseverance in wanting to play an important role, which are fundamental in football,” Perisic said.

“In future I would like to play in other countries I hope the Nerazzurri fans understand.”

 

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