Man Utd Reportedly Now 'Close' to £44m Ivan Perisic Deal After Weeks of Negotiations
Manchester United are said to finally be closing in on a move to make Ivan Perisic their third signing of the summer in a deal that could total £44m, following on from the captures of £30m defender Victor Lindelof and £75m striker Romelu Lukaku.
Earlier this week, The Sun prematurely claimed that a £40m agreement had been reached. That appears to not have been the case, but according to Sky Sports on Tuesday morning, United are now indeed 'close to agreeing a fee'.
MILAN, ITALY - MAY 14: Ivan Perisic of FC Internazionale Milano in action during the Serie A match between FC Internazionale and US Sassuolo at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on May 14, 2017 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images)
Emilio Andreoli/GettyImages
Sky offers no actual figure, but a report from the Daily Mail suggests that the seemingly imminent agreement will see United pay an initial fee of £39.5m, with a further £4.5m in add-ons. The Mail report also notes that the Old Trafford club are 'confident'.
It has been said for a number of weeks that Perisic, a player first seriously linked with United during the March international break, is keen on making the switch to Old Trafford.
The speed of the proposed move will seemingly now rest on how fast the clubs can formally strike that all-important price agreement, and whether that will come before or after the player flies to China for a pre-season tour with the rest of the Inter squad.
Perisic was allowed a leave of absence from the first part of Inter's pre-season programme over the weekend to have dental work carried out. But the club expect him to report for duty with the rest of the Nerazzurri squad on Tuesday for the trip to China.
Even if an agreement between Inter and United is not final, but close, there is a chance he may be excused anyway. If he is not on the plane it would be a sure fire indicator the deal is going through. If he is, it isn't dead, but it will certainly be delayed for at least a few days or a week.
When United boss Jose Mourinho was quizzed by journalists about Perisic in the wake of United's friendly win over Real Salt Lake, he simply replied, "No idea. No idea my friend. No idea."
UPDATE: On Tuesday afternoon Perisic was named in Inter's 28-man tour squad.
