33-year-old winger Ivan Perisic has become Tottenham Hotspur’s first signing this summer, the club announced on Tuesday evening. The Croatian is back with manager Antonio Conte in London after a previous spell together at Inter Milan.
Perisic will join the club officially on July 1, when his contract with the Nerazzurri expires and the transfer window officially opens, to be reunited with Conte under whom he played in the 2020/21 season.
The Croatian has penned a two-year deal with Spurs until 2024. In his first interview, he confirmed that the desire to play in the Premier League was on his agenda for a long time.
“From the first time I was in contact with the coach and sporting director I told them that I really wanted to come here.
“Ever since 2009, when I started playing professional football in Belgium, I was so close a few times to coming to the Premier League and, at last, this is the moment. I can’t wait.”
the winger said, as per the club’s official website.
Perisic had just completed his fourth year at Inter when the club announced the arrival of Conte as its latest head coach in 2019. Disagreements over where his best role lay with the Italian led the Croatian to spend the 2019/20 season on loan at Bayern Munich, where he won the UEFA Champions League.
He returned to his parent club the following summer and, having found a resolution, was deployed out wide as a wingback by Conte in his three/five-at-the-back system to great effect. The player speaks highly of Conte, with whom he won Inter’s first league title in 11 years:
“He’s living football, every minute, every hour, every day, even when he’s sleeping, he’s thinking about football! He’s so passionate. He wants to win. I like his character and I know we’re going to do a great job here.”
Perisic joins Tottenham after representing Inter on more than 250 occasions. He has also had previous spells at Borussia Dortmund (2011-12) and VfL Wolfsburg (2013-15).
