Ivan Perisic sends 'painful' reminder to Manchester United of another transfer failure

While Erik ten Hag gets down to work on his transfer plans for the summer at Manchester United, plenty of clubs have already been busy getting new faces through the door.

United fans will no doubt have been looking on in envy as the likes of Manchester City and Aston Villa have decided not to wait for the opening of the transfer window to make some big moves. Now Tottenham have got in on the act, having added Ivan Perisic to their ranks.

The former Inter Milan forward of course knows Antonio Conte well from their time together in Italy, and the Spurs boss has wasted no time in renewing acquaintances with the Croatia international. Moreover, it gives Perisic the opportunity finally achieve a long-held goal of his.

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"When I got contact with the coach and sporting director I told them I really wanted to come to the Premier League, since 2009 when I started to play professional football in Belgium," Perisic told Tottenham’s in-house media. It’s not the first time he’s spoken of his desire to play in the Premier League, and United could have helped him achieve that dream much earlier.

It was during Jose Mourinho’s time in charge at Old Trafford that Perisic’s opportunity arose. The Portuguese was an admirer of the forward, and had made contact with him over a potential move to United – unfortunately for Perisic, and perhaps the Reds, it wasn’t to be.

“How close was I going there? Very close,” Perisic told The Athletic in 2019. “It was an amazing thing for me when Jose 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 dream of mine to play in all the big leagues.

“But