A key player in Croatia’s journey to the final of the 2018 World Cup was Ivan Perisic as the wide player scored key goals and assists in the tournaments. His performances raised the eyebrows of several top teams, including Manchester United, but the United manager then, Jose Mourinho, did not end up signing the winger. But it seems that the Red Devils are now being offered the player by Inter Milan in exchange for one of United’s players plus a fee, as per a report on Gazzetta.
The report states that Inter Milan will offer Perisic and a fee of €30 million to bring striker Romelu Lukaku to Italy. Manchester United spent £75 million to sign Lukaku from Everton in 2017 and the Belgian forward hasn’t impressed consistently enough, despite scoring 42 goals in 96 appearances for the club, most of which have come in spurts. Perisic, meanwhile, joined Inter in 2015 for €16 million and has gone on to become one of their key players.
Perisic has been a constant fixture on the left wing for Inter, scoring 9 goals and 4 assists in the recently concluded campaign for the Italian club. Lukaku, meanwhile, ended the year with 15 goals in all competitions, which is 12 less than what he scored in his debut season with the club. His downturn in form was mostly because of United’s miserable season as well as Marcus Rashford getting the nod ahead of him in the latter half of the season.
Manchester United should not make the grave mistake of accepting this reported offer. Perisic is 30 years of age and would be a stop-gap player, one who can offer quality in the final third but would be a heavy investment for a player of his age. United, under Solskjaer, should mould a team that could challenge for a title consistently in 2-3 years time, by when Perisic would certainly be over the hill performance-wise.
Just two seasons ago, United paid £75 million for Lukaku and it wouldn’t make financial sense to sell him for such a cut-price. The Red Devils also need a striker to replace Lukaku, if they do intend to sell him, rather than a wide player. United have to also get Alexis Sanchez off their books and should only then pursue a move for a winger.
Perisic could have been a good signing a year ago, but not anymore.
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