Tottenham are on course to win the Champions League
No sooner had the summer set in and Tottenham had already made an audible transfer on behalf of the head coach. Antonio Conte led Spurs to the Champions League, beating Arsenal in the penultimate corner of the English Premier League, making it doubly joyful. As a result, the Italian received carte blanche from the avaricious Daniel Levy to form a team, and Tottenham’s first summer rookie was the player with whom Antonio Conte celebrated his Serie A victory a year ago.
Ivan Perisic’s contract with Inter expired and the Croatian signed a two-year deal with Tottenham as a free agent. The participation of Conte, whose demands are well known to Ivan, in the negotiations was decisive. The presence of the authoritative coach allowed Spurs to beat Inter, Chelsea and Juventus who were also hunting for Perisic, in the fight for the experienced player.
Ivan Perisic’s soccer portrait
Perisic is a Hajduk pupil from Split, but he was not destined to play for his native club’s first team: when Ivan was 17 he performed brilliantly in the matches for Croatia’s youth national team and attracted the attention of many European clubs.
The choice fell on Sochaux, but in France there were difficulties associated with the adaptation, so even here he did not get to play for the first team, the talented Croatian received practice in the far club. Perišić really kick-started his career in Belgium, where he played for Rousselaure and Brugge.
In his second season with Brugge, Ivan scored 22 goals and attracted the attention of Borussia Dortmund who paid 4 million euros for the transfer. A year and a half later, Borussia Dortmund sold Perišić to Wolfsburg for twice as much, but Perišić secured the Golden Double in the 2011/12 season under Jurgen Klopp as the Bumblebees secured league and German Cup victories.
Perišić moved from Germany to Italy in 2015 as Wolfsburg sold him to Inter for €19m (the most expensive transfer of the Croatian’s career). “Inter” is by far the main club in Perisic’s career: he played 254 matches for the Neradzurri, scored 55 goals and assisted 49 times to his partners.
Ivan spent the 2019/20 season at Bayern on loan from Inter. His return to Germany was an overachiever: the Croatian won the Golden Treble and took part in the victorious Champions League final against PSG.
Perisic won titles with each of his clubs in the top championships: the German championship and cup with Borussia Dortmund; the German Cup and Super Cup with Wolfsburg; the Champions League, the German championship and the Cup with Bayern; the Italian championship, the Cup and the Super Cup with Inter. “Is Tottenham hinting at something?
Ivan Perisic is the 2018 World Cup silver medalist and also has a goal to his credit in the final match against France (2-4). Perisic played a total of 113 games for Croatia (fourth best in history) and scored 32 goals (third on the list of top Croatian scorers after Shuker and Mandzukic).
Perisic, 33, became the fifth Croatian player to play for Tottenham. Vedran Corluka, Luka Modric, Niko Kranjcar and Stipe Pletikosa previously played for Spurs.
The Champions League joke is only partly a joke
It is clear that Perisic’s transfer does not make Tottenham the Champions League favorite, but it does give them a chance to win the prestigious tournament. As we know, the Croatian player has been in the Champions League winning squad for 10 years in a row. Tottenham’s Luka Modrić took over half of the victories, Perišić himself won with Bayern, as did Mandžukić before that, Barcelona had Rakitić, Liverpool had Lovren, and Chelsea had Kovačić, who had previously won with Real Madrid in the company of Modrić.
The Croatian Football Union even teased Man City and PSG on social media about this topic, explaining their failures in the Champions League very simply: they spent billions of money, but did not sign a single Croatian. In Perisic, Tottenham signs not only a superstitious title hope, but also an experienced player who should help both in the APL and the Champions League. Apart from joking, Conte is putting together a championship team: if Kane and Son don’t go anywhere and the summer transfer campaign is not limited to signing one fighter with a winning mentality, Spurs will make England and Europe reckon with themselves.
There’s no need to look at Perisic’s passport. He will be an asset to Conte’s team
Skeptics are confused by Perisic’s age, he turned 33 in January, but this is a case where you should look at the level of play, not the passport, and the bright example of Modric, who at 36 played a crucial role in last season’s best European team. Ivan has the same Balkan genetics and character, as well as his characteristic revanchism and constant search for new challenges.
Perišić did not immediately live up to expectations in his youth, but exploded in Belgium. He didn’t become untouchable with Klopp, but he progressed and matured at Wolfsburg. Then I got a glimpse of the champion Bayern, took part in Inter’s victories, and now I have a new impetus – I got into the Premier League, where I have always dreamed of playing:
“When I was first contacted by the coach [Conte] and the sporting director [Paratici], I admitted to them that I had wanted to play in the APL since 2009, when I was just settling into professional soccer, playing in Belgium. “Tottenham made my dream come true. I am honored to work with a coach like Antonio. We had a perfect year together at Inter, I’m very happy to see him again. He lives soccer every minute, every hour and every day, even when he sleeps he thinks about it. I watched the team’s last games and after the win against Arsenal, it was obvious that Tottenham will qualify for the Champions League. I’m happy about that because I want to play in the most important games.
With players like Ivan Perisic, there really could be more important matches for Tottenham.
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