Tottenham Hotspur have revealed that the versatile 33-year-old, whose contract with Inter Milan terminated at the conclusion of the season, has agreed to a two-year contract!
Tottenham Hotspur began one of their goals of improving their team ahead of a return to the Champions League by signing veteran Croatia international Ivan Perisic on a free transfer on Tuesday.
The versatile 33-year-old, whose contract with Inter Milan expired at the conclusion of the season, has signed a two-year contract with the Premier League team.
The 33-year-old had a medical with the Premier League club on Monday and will join on a free transfer on 1 July when his contract with Inter expires.
As the north London club prepares for a return to Europe’s top after finishing fourth in the Premier League, Perisic becomes boss Antonio Conte’s first major close-season addition.
Perisic worked with Antonio Conte when the Spurs boss led Inter to the 2020-21 Serie A title.
He said: “It is a privilege to work with a coach like this. I am really happy to see him again.”
Perisic played 49 times and scored 10 goals this season in all competitions as Inter won the Coppa Italia.
“I’m really excited to start with the Spurs family,” Perisic told the club’s website. “I’ve really wanted to come here to the Premier League since 2009 when I started in professional football in Belgium, and I can’t wait.”
The move sees Perisic reunited with Conte who he played under when Inter won the Serie A title in 2020-21.
“I’m looking forward to seeing him again. He lives football, every minute, every hour, every day, even when he’s sleeping I think he’s thinking about football. I like his character and know he’s going to do a great job here.”
Perisic, who can play as a left winger or up front, joined Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund in 2011 and won the league and the German Cup in his first season.
He joined Inter in 2015 after playing more than 200 Serie A games for VfL Wolfsburg, where he scored 49 goals.
In 2019-20, he spent a season on loan with Bayern Munich, where he won the Bundesliga, Champions League, and German Cup. Perisic returned to Inter under Conte and helped the team win the Serie A and the Coppa Italia this season.
Perisic will be well-known to English fans after scoring the equaliser for Croatia in the 2018 World Cup semi-final, which England lost 2-1 after extra time.
He also scored in the final as Croatia lost to France! Perisic has 113 caps for Croatia and has scored 32 goals.