While Manchester United lifted two major trophies in Jose Mourinho’s first season in charge a 6th place Premier League finish is not something that the Portuguese tactician will want repeating next term.
Following a hefty spending spree in 2016, United will unquestionably splash the cash once again this summer in order to upgrade their squad and according to reports the first man through the door could be Inter Milan’s Croatian winger, Ivan Perisic, with a fee of £36m being touted.
Inter endured a disappointing campaign by finishing 7th in Serie A and although a number of their players underachieved badly, Perisic was not one of them, scoring 11 goals and registering eight assists in 36 league appearances.
At 28, Perisic is entering the peak years of his career and in theory, fits the profile of player that Mourinho typically tends to sign.
So how has Perisic risen to become a United target and how would he fit into the side if he did indeed swap Milan for Manchester?
Club career
Born in Split, Perisic took a somewhat unusual route to the top upon leaving the citie’s biggest club Hajduk Split as a 17-year-old in 2006 and making the move to France to join minnows FC Sochaux.
During his 18-month spell in Montbéliard, Perisic found it difficult to force his way into first-team contention, representing the club’s B team in French football’s lower leagues.
It wasn’t until he made a loan move to Belgian club KSV Roeselare in January 2009 that Perisic began to make a name for himself, as he managed eight goals and two assists in 20 appearances for the club.
Such form prompted Belgian giants Club Brugge to sign him permanently from Sochaux the following summer. Playing for a bigger club led to Perisic becoming a household name in Belgium and his performances began to attract the attentions of bigger clubs across the continent.
After scoring 35 goals and providing 23 assists for Brugge and winning the Belgian Pro League top goalscorer and Player of the Year awards in 2010-11, Perisic earned a move to Borussia Dortmund, fresh from their Bundesliga win under Jurgen Klopp.
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Perisic helped BVB win a league and cup double in his maiden season with the club but after falling out of favour the following year, was on the move again, this time joining Wolfsburg in January 2013.
Alongside Kevin De Bruyne and Bas Dost, Perisic starred as Wolfsburg established themselves as a force in German football by finishing 2nd in the Bundesliga and winning the DFB-Pokal cup in 2014-15 against his former club Dortmund.
Like De Bruyne, Perisic left the Wolves in 2015, moving to Inter and while he has made a seamless adaptation to Italian football, the European giants have failed to kick on.
Strengths
Perhaps the most striking thing about Perisic is that he is completely two-footed – something that is a rarity in football, even at the highest level.
This fact immediately sets Perisic apart from most wide players as he is as comfortable dribbling the ball down the byline and whipping a cross in as he is cutting inside to have a shot, off either the left or right flank.
Not only that, Perisic is blisteringly quick which makes him a real asset for a team that looks to transition quickly from defence to attack or play on the counter-attack, as previous Mourinho teams have done.
Perisic is an accomplished dribbler having succeeded with 41 take on attempts (51%) in Serie A this season, while he was also Inter’s second-most creative player, supplying 62 chances for his teammates.
In the final third, the Croatian is a real threat as assist and goal totals of eight and 11 respectively in Serie A this season highlight. Furthermore, he is capable of scoring off either foot or with his head, making him a dangerous threat to opposition defenders.
Another aspect of Perisic’s game that will endear him to Mourinho is that he works tirelessly for the team and possesses a seamlessly boundless supply of energy, enabling him to get up and down the touchline
Three ways he’d fit in at Manchester United
In the current squad
Following Romelu Lukaku’s arrival from Everton this summer, the obvious place for Perisic would be to slot into the left-wing role that has been something of a problem to Mourinho this term.
Anthony Martial would be the biggest loser in this scenario as the player most at risk of losing his place in the team, despite his enormous potential. He doesn’t seem to have convinced Mourinho of his worth while Perisic is exactly the sort of seasoned campaigner the Portuguese prefers to put his trust in to get the job done.
Kings of the counter-attack
Lukaku has the physique of a classic centre-forward and is a deadly presence on the break. In a front three set up to hit teams where it hurts, the minute they lose possession, the threat posed by the Belgian could be amplified by the pace and precision of Marcus Rashford and Persisic, flanking the striker from the left and the right, respectively.
Here the Croatian’s quality on either foot would come into its own. With a deeper player tasked with unleashing the speed of this front three, such as Paul Pogba – no central midfielder played more through balls in the Premier League last season – it would be up to Lukaku, Perisic and Rashford to run teams into disarray. Frightening.
Ultra-attack
Manchester United lacked goals last season. Of the final top five in the Premier League – Chelsea, Spurs, Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal – no team scored fewer than 77 times. United, meanwhile, are next up in sixth with 54. That’s fewer than seventh-placed Everton (62).
The problem was they lacked a clinical edge. The answer? For Mourinho, it might just be packing the attack with natural goalscorers.
Last season, Lukaku was second only to Harry Kane for goals in the Premier League while Perisic was Inter’s second-top scorer from out wide. Juan Mata has turned himself into a bigger goal threat than ever, slipping past defenders to use his smaller size and positional sense to his advantage.
He has scored 10 goals in all competitions for three seasons straight, and with his tendency to drift inside is a natural foil for Antonio Valencia as the Ecuadorian surges up the wing from full-back.
As for Mkhitaryan, the former Borussia Dortmund star will look to reclaim his reputation as one of football’s most lethal No.10s after an up-and-down debut Man United season; the Armenia international scored 23 goals and got 32 assists for the BVB the campaign prior.
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