Bayern Munich winger Ivan Perisic has admitted that he was very close to joining Manchester United in 2017 after receiving a phone call from then manager José Mourinho.
It was well-documented at the time, United’s interest in Perisic. The Guardian even suggested that Mourinho was willing to sell Anthony Martial to make way for the Croatia international.
In hindsight, that wouldn’t have been a good move for the club.
Martial is 23-years-old and has the ability to become one of Europe’s top forwards. He started the season well but has been out the past while injured, though selling him for Perisic, now 30, would have been a blatant mistake.
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Perisic left Inter Milan in the summer for Bayern on loan and has made three appearances thus far, scoring two goals and as many assists, as per WhoScored.
It is alleged that personal terms were also agreed between the Croatian and United, but the Red Devils failed to reach an agreement over a fee with Inter, which eventually put the deal to bed.
In a recent interview Perisic admits he was very close to moving to Old Trafford and he just could not say no to Mourinho. He was disappointed at the deal not going through.
“How close was I going there? Very close,” the winger told The Athletic.
“It was an amazing thing for me when José called me. It was difficult to say no to him.
“In fact, I really, really wanted to join him and play for United. It was a dr4eam of mine to play in all the big leagues.
“But it didn’t happen. It was painful for me.
“But I don’t want to go into the details. I only found out myself the reason reasons two years later.”
It will be interested to see if Perisic can impress enough this season to be signed permanently at Bayern.
