Despite his present injury, Ivan Perisic is expected to leave Tottenham Hotspur for Hajduk Split today, according to Italian sources.
Perisic last played for Tottenham in September, but has been sidelined since with a significant ligament injury. Nonetheless, he has been working to locate a new club where he can finish his recovery and return to play.
Hajduk Split has long hoped for a comeback for a player they developed through their academy but never got to employ at the senior level after being plucked away by Sochaux as a teenager.
Perisic has since had an excellent career, playing for clubs such Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, and Tottenham.
According to reliable sources, Hajduk Split is close to bringing Perisic back to Croatia.
Earlier on Friday, Fabrizio Romano revealed how Perisic would leave Tottenham on loan for the final six months of his deal.
It’s an odd move, but Tottenham has already done it this month, transferring Eric Dier to Bayern Munich.
Perisic is now all ready to leave on the same terms, according to an update from Tuttomercatoweb.
According to the Italian outlet, Perisic’s ‘great return’ to his native country with Hajduk Split should be announced today’.
Although he is still recovering, he will ‘immediately’ return to Hajduk, rather than remaining at Tottenham.
Ange Postecoglou has previously stated that Perisic’s appearance against Sheffield United in mid-September was most likely the last of his 50 for the club.
“He’s working hard to be fair to Ivan,” Postecoglou remarked earlier this month. “He definitely has some national team duties he wants to fulfill as soon as feasible.
“Again, he has been a major loss to us. I felt he’d be a huge contributor this year because of his experience, and we saw that in the first few games with how he influenced games.
“But, he won’t…” “He is unlikely to play for us again.”
Perisic may be proud of Spurs contributions.
Although he only scored once in his Tottenham career, Perisic’s 14 assists were a respectable return for a player who was already 33 years old when he joined Tottenham and was primarily used as a wing-back prior to Postecoglou’s arrival, after which he was briefly restored to a more attacking position.
His future at the club has been uncertain since Antonio Conte, who brought him to the Premier League after previously working with Inter, resigned last year.
In contrast, Postecoglou only used Perisic as a substitute in the Premier League, but he did make one final start in the Carabao Cup.
They will now part ways, seemingly with respect, as Perisic prepares to end his career back where it all began.
It remains to be seen whether he will be able to secure a permanent contract with Hajduk Split following his loan period, which will most likely be determined by his financial requirements.
His debut for the team could take until mid-April due to his recovery from an ACL injury.
Beyond that, he hopes to represent Croatia at Euro 2024, assuming he has enough match fitness by then.
Given his star status back home, he should have more opportunities to develop with Hajduk than he would with Tottenham, even if he would have remained a useful player for Postecoglou’s team in theory had he been available.
