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Manchester United have reportedly taken a significant step towards making their third major signing of the transfer window.
The Europa League holders took their summer spending past the £100m mark last weekend with the signing of Romelu Lukaku, and with Victor Lindelof already on board, the Guardian and the Telegraph are reporting that the club are now closing on a deal to take Inter winger Ivan Perisic to Old Trafford.
The Croatian international is thought to have made up his mind on a move to the Premier League, though the difference in valuation the two clubs have for the player was thought to be a sticking point.
Inter have valued the midfielder at €55m (£49m), a fee which they were reluctant to budge from given new Nerazzurri manager Luciano Spalletti’s desire to keep him at the San Siro, and while Man United’s own valuation of the 28-year-old is currently at £40m, their determination to push it through could see both sides compromise at a deal that the reports say could be worth around £45m.
Indeed, if the transfer is completed early enough then Perisic could yet join Man United’s tour of the United States. Inter travel to China as part of their own pre-season preparations within the next two weeks and it stands to reason that Perisic would prefer to not have to travel to Asia only to be pulled away to complete a transfer soon after.
Having reportedly become exasperated at the lack of transfer activity at the club in recent weeks, the wheels have really clicked into gear now on Manchester United’s summer recruitment drive.
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On this week’s episode of the Mixer Irish football podcast, we chatted to Shelbourne manager Owen Heary and looked ahead to Irish sides’ big week in Europe, as well as the usual League of Ireland news.
