Why Manchester United Don’t Need to Sign Ivan Perisic

Inter Milan and Croatia star Ivan Perisic has been linked with a move to Manchester United for some time now, but nothing as of yet has materialised. The Red Devils have already reportedly had two bids rejected as they did not meet the valuation of the wide man but should they continue negotiations for the 28-year-old?

Perisic joined I Nerazzurri from Wolfsburg in 2015, and his talent is well favoured by the San Siro faithful, well the black and blue side anyway! Last season was an impressive year for the versatile left-sided player as he scored ten goals and contributed six assists but his side could only manage a 7th place finish; one place below city rivals AC.

You can understand why there is discontent with Perisic and why he may feel he can play at a higher level. The attraction of Champions League football will certainly be a contributing factor for him.

He does possess what Jose Mourinho likes in a player as he has blistering pace and can break on the counter attack but do Manchester United need to sign a £40-48 million player to do that?

Manchester United do have plenty of talent in their squad especially in wide positions. Currently, on their books, they have Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata and Ashley Young who are capable of playing out wide; you could even count Adnan Januzaj, but he clearly has no future.

There is a vast amount of pace, directness and creative skill in the mentioned six players who could rival Perisic.

There is also the argument that with such exceptional youngsters coming through, spending those millions on a 28-year-old would be bad investment. With Lingard only aged 24, Martial aged 21 and Rashford just 19 years of age, their wide men still have some developing to do.

Manchester United will also welcome back Andreas Pereira who completed a loan spell at Granada in Spain. Despite suffering relegation and being managed by Tony Adams, Pereira showed many promising signs as he scored five times and assisted three goals for the Southern Spanish side.

He has even been included on the team’s US tour this month and will be given a fair chance to prove himself.

Even players coming through the youth system are showing real signs of promise. For example, 16-year-old Angel Gomes, who made his debut at the end of last season, can play either as a number 10 or out wide and is the youngest ever winner of Manchester United’s Jimmy Murphy Youth Team Player of the Year award.

However, Mourinho would be hesitant to put all his trust into his younger players, and this has been evident at previous clubs he has been at.

He clearly wants to win the Premier League this coming season and will more than likely want a quick fix as opposed to nurturing players for another season.

Some may argue Manchester United are still in transition but it has now been four years since Sir Alex Ferguson left and they have spent an awful lot of money with three different managers at the helm. This season is a pinnacle season with many speculating finishing anything lower than fourth could spell the end for the Portuguese man.

All the talk of Perisic could be redundant as Inter Milan’s new manager Luciano Spalletti wants to talk to his man about his current situation.

The Italian wants to hear Perisic’s side of the story amid these rumours, and until he hears it from his own mouth that he wants to leave, then he will believe it. The situation will not have been helped when the winger posted a cryptic message on Instagram as he boarded a flight.

Manchester United should probably stick with what they have in the wide areas as they have ample selection and real promise coming through. Their priority is a central defensive midfielder to allow Paul Pogba the freedom he requires to fulfil his potential. The Croatian would be useful but not a vital signing for the 20 times champions. With the players they have would he be a major improvement? Probably not!

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