Ivan Perišić

He made his debut for the club in their 3–1 home victory over Hamburger SV on 5 August, substituting on for Chris Löwe in the 75th minute.

Ivan Perišić ( born 2 February 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Croatian First League club Hajduk Split, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, and the Croatia national team.

Usually deployed as a left winger, he has also featured as an attacking midfielder, second striker, or left wing-back.

Known for his ambidexterity and versatility, he is considered to be one of the greatest Croatian players of all time.

The only match he played for Hajduk was a friendly 3–1 win over Smederevo in Murska Sobota on 16 July 2006.

Returning from Murska Sobota to Split, Perišić received offers from Anderlecht and Sochaux.

Hajduk offered Perišić a €100,000 contract, which was only €20,000 less than Hajduk's best player Niko Kranjčar's contract.

However, the Perišić family opted for French club Sochaux, which paid €360,000 to sign him in the summer of 2006.

Sochaux's coach Alain Perrin personally arrived to Split with a private jet to convince Perišić to sign, waiting two days for his signature.

His physical and technical attributes led to comparisons to former Croatia international Aljoša Asanović by some journalists.

He was a member of the Sochaux youth team, which won the Coupe Gambardella in 2007.

During his time at Sochaux, he failed to make a first-team appearance, but did play for the B team.

At the end of the 2008–09 season, there were reports Perišić sought to join Belgian side Anderlecht.

In January 2009, Perišić was sent on loan to Belgian top flight club Roeselare for six months.

On 26 August 2009, Belgian club Club Brugge acquired Perišić from Sochaux for a €250,000 transfer fee and signed him to a three-year contract.

Prior his move, Perišić was linked with a move to German side Hertha BSC, having gone on trial.

In the opening match of the season, Perišić scored his first goal in a 1–1 draw against Genk, then scored his second in two consecutive games and provided assists in a 4–1 win over Westerlo.

Overall, Perišić scored 9 goals in 33 league appearances, also making eight appearances in Brugge's Europa League campaign, scoring four goals.

In the 2010–11 season, he was the top scorer of the Belgian Jupiler Pro League after scoring 22 goals for Club Brugge, also being named Player of the Year in Belgium.

During the season, Perišić scored four goals and provided an assist in a 5–0 win against Charleroi on 29 December 2010.

A product of the Hajduk Split and Sochaux youth academies, Perišić made a name for himself while playing for Club Brugge, where he was the Belgian Pro League top goalscorer and was named Belgian Footballer of the Year for 2011.

This earned him a transfer to Borussia Dortmund, with whom he won the 2011–12 Bundesliga, before signing with VfL Wolfsburg for €8 million in January 2013.

Perišić made his debut for the Croatia national team in 2011, and represented his nation at Euro 2012, 2016 and 2020, as well as the 2014, 2018 and 2022 World Cup, reaching the final of the 2018 tournament and winning a bronze medal at the 2022 World Cup.

Instrumental to Croatia's second "golden generation", Perišić is the nation's player with most goal contributions at the major tournaments (18).

Perišić played in the youth ranks of the club he grew up supporting, Hajduk Split.

He received interest from a number of clubs, including Anderlecht, PSV, Ajax, Hertha BSC and Hamburger SV.

On 23 May 2011, Perišić signed a five-year contract to play for German side Borussia Dortmund after Dortmund paid an estimated €5 million transfer fee to Brugge.

During a Champions League match on 13 September 2011, he scored a late equaliser with a volley from 20 yards against Arsenal after entering as a substitute in the 69th minute.

On 14 October, he scored the first goal in a 2–0 win against Werder Bremen, a match in which he was later sent off for a second bookable offence.

On 21 April 2012, he scored the important 1–0 goal against Borussia Mönchengladbach and opened the door to the eighth national championship for Dortmund.

The game ended 2–0 (the second was scored by Shinji Kagawa).

Perišić began the 2012–13 Bundesliga season scoring a brace in a 3–2 loss against Hamburger SV on 22 September 2012.

However, Perišić soon found his first team opportunities limited, having played less in the first team and soon told Croatian channel Nova TV he had received no support from Dortmund manager Jürgen Klopp and accused him of favouring other players.

In response, Klopp criticised his actions as childish and Perišić faced a fine due to his comment.

On 6 January 2013, it was reported Perišić transferred for €8 million to VfL Wolfsburg.

He remained there for two and a half seasons, winning the 2015 DFB-Pokal Final, before moving to Inter Milan for €16 million.

At the end of the season, Perišić signed a new three-year contract at Brugge, keeping him until 2015.

Belgian football critics predicted a bright future for Perišić.

In 2019, he joined Bayern Munich on loan, winning the treble.

After returning to Inter Milan, he won the 2020–21 Serie A and the 2021 Supercoppa Italiana.