Report: Conte had reservations about Perisic before the wing-back won him over

According to SportMediaset (30/05/22 as relayed by FC Inter News and Sport Witness), Antonio Conte was initially not impressed with Ivan Perisic before the Croat won over the Italian during Inter Milan’s successful 2020/21 campaign.

Perisic became Tottenham’s first summer signing ahead of Conte’s first full season in charge. The Croat has penned a two-year deal with the North London club with an option of another 12-month extension (The Times).

Grand Hotel CalcioMercato have claimed that Inter offered the 33-year-old a new contract worth €4.5m (£3.8m) per year plus bonuses but the player was not willing to lower his demand of €6m (£5.1m) salary.

The report added that Chelsea were also keen on landing the Inter star but the complications with their takeover prevented the Blues from making a move for the wide man.

SportMediaset have now claimed that Perisic had no intention of signing a new deal at the San Siro and had always planned to leave.

It is said that Conte’s presence at Spurs proved to be an important ‘piece of the puzzle’ in taking the former Borussia Dortmund man to North London.

The report further explains that Conte was ‘not happy’ with the experienced wide-man’s performances when he arrived at Inter in 2019, which is why he loaned him out to Bayern Munich for the 2019/20 campaign.

However, it is said that Perisic ‘exploded’ in the left wing-back role in the Tottenham head coach’s system during the subsequent campaign as Inter won the Serie A title.

Spurs Web Opinion

Even at Tottenham, we have seen the likes of Matt Doherty win Conte over after the Spurs boss initially seemed reluctant to play him. That suggests that the Italian is willing to change his mind and give players a chance if they are putting in the required work during training.

Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Related Topics

Have something to tell us about this article? Let us know