Jose Mourinho handed hope in £45m chase for Ivan Perisic as Inter boss says he is not bigger than club
Croatian winger put Chelsea to the sword in a 2-1 friendly win
JOSE MOURINHO has been given hope in his bid to sign winger Ivan Perisic.
The Manchester United boss is trying to thrash out a £45million deal for the Inter Milan star, 28.
And Inter boss Luciano Spalletti says the Croatia international — who scored for the Italians in a 2-1 friendly win over Chelsea in Singapore yesterday — is not bigger than the club.
He said: “For the last two years Perisic has played at Inter. With Perisic we didn’t win anything. The team is important — not one player.”
United had previously been reluctant to match Inter's asking price for the 28-year-old.
But Old Trafford executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward is under pressure to meet Mourinho’s wishes as the Portuguese boss lines up two more signings.
Chelsea have been linked with Inter winger Antonio Candreva but the Italian would only leave if a replacement is found.
Spalletti said: “A lot of things happened during this summer in the market and this is another thing. But this is not true.
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“We intend to keep Candreva. Even if we sell him we will need to bring in another wide player.”
The Blues' defeat to the Italian giants in Singapore is a cause for concern for boss Antonio Conte.
The Italian keeps saying he needs more players and the defeat – along with the result against Bayern Munich earlier in the week – shows why.
It was Chelsea’s last game before next week’s curtain-raiser at Wembley in the Community Shield.