Ivan Perisic reveals what Luka Modric told him about Spurs before he joined

Ivan Perisic has revealed that Luka Modric gave him a glowing endorsement of Tottenham when he called to ask his international teammate about moving to the club earlier this summer.

Perisic was the first of six new signings to arrive through the door at Spurs this summer, with the experienced wide-man joining on a free transfer after his contract with Inter Milan ran out.

The 33-year-old is the first Croat to represent Tottenham since Modric left to join Real Madrid in the summer of 2012.

Perisic revealed that he spoke to the Real Madrid man about the club and even asked him for permission to wear number 14, which the midfielder held during his time at the North London club.

The new Spurs signing told Sky Sports: “The first time I spoke with the manager, I also called Luka [Modric] later. I said to him that there is a possibility that I might come to his ex-club and he said to me all of the positive things about the club.

“He used to play at the old stadium and he used to train on the old training camp but everything is new here now, everything is much better and much more modern.

“We’re going to wear the same number. I asked him for his permission and he said, ‘Okay, you can take it’, and yeah it was fun.”

Ryan Sessegnon admitted last month that Perisic has already given him several pointers on how he can improve his attacking output (The Daily Mail).

Spurs new boy Djed Spence also revealed this week to Football.London that the Croat encouraged him to keep working hard and assured him his chance will come after the 21-year-old did not feature in Tottenham’s pre-season friendly against AS Roma.

Perisic has admitted that as an experienced member of the squad, he sees it as his role to help the young players coming through.

He added: “I like to speak with the young players because I know when I came to this world it was tough and the other players helped me a lot.

“Now I’m one of the oldest I love to speak with them and to give them some advice if I see that they are doing something wrong. It has to be like this, and this is important for the team.”

Spurs Web Opinion

It is clear that Perisic has been brought in for more than just the value he adds on the pitch. While the 33-year-old is a world-class wing-back, he is also evidently a leader in the changing room with a winning mentality. The likes of Spence and Sessegnon will certainly learn a lot from watching how he operates.

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