According to Fussball Transfers, Everton are interested in Ivan Perisic and may have to battle Leicester City and Manchester United to procure his signature.
Corriere dello Sport say RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen and Hertha BSC are also keen, but would Perisic be a good signing for us?
What went wrong for Perisic at Inter?
Sport Bild say a divided dressing room has been blamed for things going sour for Perisic. He’s fallen out with Mauro Icardi and Sport Bild believe there’s a feud with the Balkan and South American players.
Perisic has requested a transfer from Inter in the past too. He wanted out in 2017 when Manchester United, wanted out in 2019 when Arsenal were linked and wanted out when Bayern came knocking that same year.
It’s worth noting that the 31-year-old’s form has been good at Inter. Since joining from Vfl Wolfsburg in 2015, he’s gone on to make 163 appearances in all competitions, scoring 40 goals with 35 assists. In 141 Serie A outings, Perisic has created 228 chances, made 128/250 successful dribbles and whipped in 120/600 accurate crosses.
- 2015/16: 37 appearances, 9 goals, 6 assists
- 2016/17: 42 appearances, 11 goals, 10 assists
- 2017/18: 39 appearances, 11 goals, 11 assists
- 2018/19: 45 appearances, 9 goals, 8 assists
How much would he cost?
Inter paid £17.1m to sign Perisic five years ago. Transfermakt believe his current market value stands at £13.5m while CIES Football Observatory say he’s worth around €20m-€30m. According to FC Inter News, Perisic’s asking price has fallen from €20m to €15m this summer.
The 31-year-old earned more than €4.5m-a-year/€86.5k-per-week (£4.1m-a-year/£79k-per-week) on loan at Bayern (2019 – 2020) and earns €4m-a-year/€77k-per-week (£3.67m-a-year/£70.6k-per-week) at Inter (2015 -present), so he wouldn’t be a high-earner by any means.
Summary
Carlo Ancelotti has James Rodriguez, Richarlison, Bernard, Alex Iwobi, Anthony Gordon and Theo Walcott at his disposal, so we don’t really need another wide-man.
Perisic would be an improvement on a few of our players, however, so never say never. It just remains to be seen if we lodge an official bid and if he’d pick us over all the other interested clubs.
The Croatian international is a short-term option as he turns 32 in February, so maybe there are better options available who can provide long-term service.
In other news, Everton linked with Rico Henry as Carlo Ancelotti eyes Leighton Baines replacement