Perisic snub is misery for Jose
ABSENT: Anthony Martial new five-year deal ahead of joining the Red Devils.
That came about after United executive vice chairman Ed Woodward refused to shell out an extra £3m to meet Inter’s £38m asking price.
Now Perisic has re-affirmed his long-term commitment to the Italian giants.
Inter boss Luciano Spalletti said: “Ivan is going nowhere.
“He is very happy here. We know he wants to stay with us, and we want him with us because he is fundamental to our team in a campaign when we will be fighting in Serie A and the Champions League.
“We know there is interest in him but we are not worried by it because he wants to be with Inter.”
Perisic reached the World Cup Final with Croatia, having helped them knock out England in the semi-finals.
Fuming
He has scored 31 goals in 118 outings for Inter since joining in an £8m switch from Wolfsburg three years ago and can also play as an attacking midfielder or a second striker.
And in Spalletti’s eyes that makes him every bit as good as Cristiano Ronaldo, who recently joined Italian champions Juventus from Real Madrid for £99m.
He said: “Ronaldo is a fantastic player and we welcome him to Serie A. But we have Perisic, who is just as fantastic.”
Meanwhile, Anthony Martial has left Jose Mourinho fuming by quitting Manchester United’s US tour to return home.
The Frenchman took a flight from Los Angeles to Manchester just 24 hours before United’s friendly with AC Milan to be with his partner Melanie Da Cruz, who is due to give birth to their son.
It is unclear whether Martial had Mourinho’s blessing to leave the tour.
But the striker has now almost certainly played his last game for United.
It has left Mourinho with Alexis Sanchez and rookies Mason Greenwood and Joshua Bohui as his only strikers for the rest of the US trip with Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford on extended breaks following the World Cup.