Antonio Conte wants more from Ivan Perisic having admitted that the Tottenham wide man hasn’t quite been at his best since his summer move.
Tottenham were always likely to be in the market for another left wing back over the summer.
Ryan Sessegnon showed some promise under Conte but Sergio Reguilon hadn’t quite managed to convince the Italian.
Reguilon has now been farmed out on loan to Atletico Madrid, but only after Tottenham secured a deal to sign Perisic on a free transfer.
Antonio Conte wants more from Ivan Perisic
Perisic came to end of his Inter Milan contract this past summer and decided to leave Italy for a new challenge.
The Croatian joined Victor Moses and Arturo Vidal in playing for Conte at multiple clubs having chosen Tottenham as his new home.
Perisic’s best days may be behind him at 33, but he can absolutely still make a real impact in the Premier League and Champions League.
Perisic also has valuable experience at the very top level and Conte obviously values that incredibly highly.
With four assists in 12 games for Tottenham, Perisic has certainly contributed but he has yet to open his goalscoring account for the club.
Perisic can of course play in multiple positions but has mostly been played as a left wing back for Tottenham.
Likely to start against Eintracht Frankfurt tonight, Perisic is still working his way back from an injury sustained towards the end of last season.
Conte haș now spoken to Sky Italia about Perisic, stating that his calf injury was ‘serious’ and that he is still recovering.
Conte added that Perisic isn’t the player he knows just yet but is ‘sure’ that he will improve, praising his assists as well as his personality.
“Perisic arrived with a serious calf problem,” said Conte. “He’s recovering, he’s not what I know yet but he’s already given us a hand in terms of assists and personality, I’m sure he’ll give us even more,” he added.
It’s hard to come back from these injuries in your 30’s, but Conte hopes to see the old Perisic flying up the flanks for Tottenham very soon.
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