Arsenal boost in race for Serie A and Croatian star

It has been reported that two of the bigger London clubs, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, are currently in a cold transfer war over the potential signing of the Inter Milan and Croatian star Ivan Perisic.

The Italian new outlet TuttoMercatoWeb, via hitc.com has reported that the Croat International is currently at odds with his current Serie A team and the state of affairs will leave him free to move this summer.

Persisic is hoping for a pay increase as well as a two-year contract but the Italian side are looking to cut the 33-year-old’s salary due to their ongoing financial problems.

As a result of the situation in Italy, Arsenal will hope that this boosts them further into the picture as they hope to chase down the winger for the 2022/23 season.

Unfortunately for the Gunners, they are not the only Londoners after the part-time wing-back as Tottenham also set their sights on the Croatian.

With Perisic reaching the end of his career, it is likely he will have one more big transfer left before he hangs up the boots and at the moment the race is on between the Premier League sides to see who will snatch him up first.

Who is more likely to sign Perisic?

Perisic has yet to play in the Premier League despite exceptionally impressive spells in both the Serie A and Bundesliga but this summer could soon see the end of that.

Tottenham will hope that they seem the most likely option for Perisic based on their transfer strategies.

The Express cited that Antonio Conte labelled the winger as ‘excellent’ and they reported that Perisic is said to be keen for a reunion with the Italian manager when he is available on a free transfer next summer.

Arsenal have had a similar transfer plan over the past two windows: sign young talents with potential whilst letting go of the higher earners with limited resale value.

Based on this criteria, Tottenham will sit back with joy that Perisic does not fit this mould and will likely lean towards the Hotspur’s Stadium.

As Perisic enters the twilight zone of his career, Conte would do well to sign the Croat up, especially if Tottenham qualify for Europe in the 2022/23 season.

Perisic at Inter Milan

Perisic joined the Serie A side in 2015 for a transfer fee of €16 million. He has reportedly played 194 games for the Italian side and scored 46 times.

In recent years, Perisic was praised by Conte in 2020 for successfully adapting to the manager’s system as he was moved from the position of winger to wing-back.

In 2021, Perisic was part of the squad that ended Juventus nine-season-long league-winning streak as Inter secured their first league title since 2009-10.

Perisic has also been recently praised for his performances in the Champions League, specifically Inter’s 2-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk.

Despite having an assisted goal ruled out, Inter’s victory saw them qualifier for the Round of 16 for the first time since the 2011/12 season.

According to whoscored.com, the 33-year-old is currently enjoying an overall rating of 7.16 with a Serie A percentage of 7.15.

He has assists in the European Championship for Croatia, and both Serie A and the Champions League as well as scoring goals in the League and for his country.

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