Inter Milan winger Ivan Perisic has confirmed that he was close to joining Manchester United during the summer of 2017. The Croatia international had been earmarked as the prime target for the Red Devils after the close of the 2016/17 season but a deal never materialised with the club being reluctant to meet the Nerazzurri’s asking price for the attacker.
In an exclusive interview with FourFourTwo, Perisic acknowledged that there was indeed interest from the Red Devils and he came on the cusp of joining the Premier League side. However, the 29-year-old added that he was convinced to remain with Inter after new manager Luciano Spalletti showed ‘tremendous desire’ to keep him with the Italian outfit.
“It’s true that an offer from Manchester United was on the table – I was really close to leaving Inter. When Luciano Spalletti arrived [in June 2017], he showed tremendous desire to keep me in the team and made it clear he didn’t want to lose me.” he told FourFourTwo.
The 2018 World Cup finalist continued to indicate that he does not regret the decision but would be open to a future move to the Premier League. Despite his comments, Inter may not seek to offload him in the near future with still more than three years remaining on his current contract with the club.
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