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Ivan Perisic: Arsenal want Inter Milan winger on loan

By David OrnsteinBBC Sport

Last updated on .From the section European Footballcomments153

Ivan Perisic
Ivan Perisic joined Inter Milan from Wolfsburg in 2015

Arsenal have made an approach to sign Inter Milan winger Ivan Perisic.

The Gunners want to seal a loan move for the 29-year-old for the rest of the season, with an option to buy him in the summer for £35m.

Croatia international Perisic signed a new five-year contract in September 2017 to extend his stay with the Italian club until 2022.

However, it is understood he is open to leaving the San Siro after joining from Wolfsburg in 2015.

Perisic has scored 34 goals in 142 appearances for Inter, finding the net three times in 25 games this term. He previously played for Borussia Dortmund and Club Brugge.

Arsenal's original plan for the January transfer window was to secure loan deals for a versatile midfielder and a winger.

For the midfield role, they remain keen on Barcelona's Denis Suarez and Christopher Nkunku of Paris St-German.

They see Perisic as a leading option to add width to Unai Emery's squad.

It is understood Inter would be prepared to do business for between £35m-£40m.

The club rejected a similar-sized offer from Manchester United in 2017 and demanded £50m.

United refused and Perisic subsequently signed a new contract with the Italian club.

However, the player's performances have dipped since starring in Croatia's run to the World Cup final, leaving Inter to conclude they may be better cashing in.

It is unclear whether injuries to Rob Holding, Hector Bellerin, Laurent Koscielny and Sokratis Papadopoulos will see them attempt to bring in defensive reinforcements.

However, the problem that forced Sokratis off the field in Friday's FA Cup defeat by Manchester United in not thought to be serious.

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153 comments

  • Comment posted by Bird, at 13:34 26 Jan 2019

    A United fanthat comes in peace here.....really sad to see Koscielny injured again last night after being out for so long. To my mind he has been one of the best central defenders around for a long time. Plays with his heart on his sleeve, never hear a bad thing about him.

    Hope it's not as serious as it looked. Bit bizarre really, the incident looked pretty innocuous.

  • Comment posted by Timefiller, at 13:28 26 Jan 2019

    He's a good player but why not give Iwobi and Reiss Nelson a chance next season and spend the limited budget on defenders?

  • Comment posted by Logical reasoning , at 13:25 26 Jan 2019

    Arsenal really need a new CB, and also maybe a full back. Ultimately they lost yesterday because they weren't clinical enough, but to be fair I can't think of any top 6 team that could beat another top 6 team while losing their 2 best CBs in the same game.

  • Comment posted by jbates1under, at 14:04 26 Jan 2019

    Get a centre half, not a winger!

  • Comment posted by Breaking News, at 13:22 26 Jan 2019

    Some of the small minded comments here...

    The average keyboard football 'fan' doesn't know a thing

  • Comment posted by U17007976, at 15:13 26 Jan 2019

    I can't understand the negativity here. We had most of the possession last night but couldn't break down Man Utd. So an experienced, creative player is a must seeing as Ozil can't be bothered now that he has his mega contract. It is imperative for Arsenal to get back into the CL asap and you can't do that by only buying young players who will be good in 3-4 years time. This seems a good move to me

  • Comment posted by old lady , at 16:32 26 Jan 2019

    It would be great to see some constructive comments instead of all this sniping ,why does football attract such nasty people .Yes Arsenal have got a long way to go to get back to the early days but while they have an American owner who won't spend it won't happen .As to last night they were doing well until the lost two defenders and it changed the momentum .

  • Comment posted by Rsuppards, at 14:47 26 Jan 2019

    "winger", "midfielder"
    The crying need is for someone who can defend
    Did they learn nothing from Wenger's last 5 years?

  • Comment posted by Wayne, at 14:15 26 Jan 2019

    Surely signing defenders who can defend would make more sense? Attack wise they look OK until the need to walk the ball into the net takes over.

    How much money was raised by chucking coins onto the pitch last night btw? Maybe a bucket to catch them would be easier tho

  • Comment posted by Warbs086, at 13:27 26 Jan 2019

    Outstanding plauer. Would love to see him in the premier League

  • Comment posted by TwoLeftFeet66, at 04:18 27 Jan 2019

    Holding and Bellerin long-term injured; Kos has a broken jaw; Sokritis looks at best average; Mustafi is dire; Kolasinac cannot defend - so we are in the market for wingers and attacking midfielders...… go figure!!!

  • Comment posted by Pistol, at 22:40 26 Jan 2019

    Don't Arsenal need defenders?

  • Comment posted by paul hirst, at 19:17 26 Jan 2019

    Perisic is a great player, but Arsenal are looking to strenthen in areas that are not a priority. The defence is second rate, and has been for a long time. This is where they should be looking to sign players. Sokrates appears to be the only one in the backline with any kind of leadership quilities, they desperately need a world class centre half to marshall the defence .

  • Comment posted by boomer, at 15:14 26 Jan 2019

    remember the good old days before the stadium move when we won things?? never bought old players and gave one year contracts to over 30s who were winners. now after all the lies and selling the best players year after year we are told the stadium doesn't make the money it was promised and we don't compete with the top clubs.

  • Comment posted by Senna and Arsenal, at 13:05 27 Jan 2019

    Gawd - Why does supporting Arsenal make me suffer from clinical depression over so many seasons, esp at time year experts say 25% population suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. It must be 90% for Arsenal fans. As for the American he is killing my club the tight fisted, knows nothing about 'soccer' Yank. What happened to 'Bank of England' Arsenal. Buy a defence....Please?

  • Comment posted by timo25, at 04:42 27 Jan 2019

    Arsenal performance against Manchester was good. Overall they were the better team. Difference was United took their chances and they didn't. Let's stop being so dramatic that everything is all at sea in this football club. This will be a good signing and he works hard off the ball. But will stress we are light in the defence department.

  • Comment posted by AG, at 19:54 26 Jan 2019

    imagine signing a winger when you have no defenders

  • Comment posted by Logical reasoning , at 13:33 26 Jan 2019

    "He's a good player but why not give Iwobi and Reiss Nelson a chance next season and spend the limited budget on defenders?"

    True but with Ozil likely on the way out in the summer and Ramsey definitely leaving, we will need some attacking reinforcements, even with Iwobi and Nelson, so if he is available now we should get him. Having said that I would definitely prioritise a good CB over him.

  • Comment posted by Stryker, at 13:32 26 Jan 2019

    That’s what you need.... a winger? What about the defence? It’s Atrocious!!!

  • Comment posted by Rob, at 13:15 26 Jan 2019

    Will Arsenal need to strengthen the defence? Got a few injuries at the moment

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