Revealed: Why Man Utd didn’t sign Ivan Perisic

Manchester United were strongly linked with Internazionale star Ivan Perisic over the summer but failed to sign the Croatia international.

The 28-year-old then signed a new contract earlier this month with no minimum fee release clause for overseas clubs.

Perisic is a talented forward coming in from the left, who is both a goalscorer and creator, who manages to find space time and time again inside the penalty area.

However, the performances of both Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial down the left wing to start the new season must have had a telling factor as to why Jose Mourinho seemingly didn’t make a strong push to sign the forward.

Prior to Inter’s match versus Bologna in Serie A this evening, Sporting Director Piero Ausilio confirmed why Ivan Perisic remains at the Serie A giants:

“He [Perisic] already had a contract, we never declined any offer from Manchester United but instead we worked to convince him to stay and that our project could be as winning as the one with Manchester. He never felt far removed from us, and the renewal is a consequence of this. He didn’t ask for a minimum release fee clause, and so we are happy.”

After missing out on Ivan Perisic during the summer transfer window there were reports we may go back in for the forward in January.  However, turning 29 on 2 February 2018, I felt at the time it was very unlikely we’d make a move for the Croatian talent, especially if there were a significant transfer fee involved.

As Marcus Rashford doesn’t turn 20 until the end of next month and Anthony Martial is still only 21, it makes little sense to make a move for the Inter player.

Ivan Persic has started the Serie A season with an impressive three goals and three assists in only four matches.  He scored 11 goals and set up eight more in his 36 Italian top flight appearances last season (31 starts).

However, Marcus Rashford has two goals and one assist in his first five Premier League matches (4 starts) and Anthony Martial has three goals and one assist in his five games (1 start).