Chelsea suffer blow as Inter Milan star Ivan Perisic agrees Tottenham transfer

Chelsea have suffered a transfer blow with summer target Ivan Perisic closing in on a move to Premier League rivals Tottenham.

Spurs boss Antonio Conte made Perisic one of his top targets after guiding the north London club to a top-four finish and agreeing to stay for at least one more season.

Perisic was a key part of Conte’s title-winning Inter Milan side in 2020-21 and has decided to reunite with the Italian, agreeing terms on a two-year deal with Tottenham, according to The Independent.

Since joining Inter from Wolfsburg in 2015, Perisic – who helped Croatia reach the World Cup final in 2018 – has made more than 250 appearances for the club.

But the 33-year-old is now a free agent after Inter opted against giving into his demands of a new three-year contract worth just under £100,000-a-week.

As a result, Perisic has been in talks with Tottenham, Chelsea and Juventus over a free transfer and is now set to sign for Spurs.

Earlier this month, it was reported that Chelsea had reached an initial agreement to sign the Croatian star but Thomas Tuchel now looks set to miss out on one of his summer transfer targets.

Chelsea are once again in a position to work on transfer deals after the Premier League approved a £4.25bn takeover of the club led by LA Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly.

The Blues, who finished third in the Premier League this season, have been linked with Sevilla star Jules Kounde, Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling and Brighton defender Marc Cucurella.

Despite a poor start to the season, Tottenham finished just three points behind Chelsea and pipped north London rivals Arsenal to the final Champions League spot.

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