Antonio Conte does not think Ivan Perisic can play at wing-back but the Inter head coach had already decided that before yesterday’s defeat to Manchester United.
The Croatian international was surprisingly left on the bench for the International Champions Cup clash in Singapore, and only played as a second striker when he did come on.
Gazzetta dello Sport this morning reminded readers how Conte had already hinted at Perisic’s unsuitability to the wing-back position on Friday, when he made the headlines for other comments.
The paper wrote: “In the space of 24 hours we went from ‘I want to try him, and if it doesn’t work we’ll have to find other solutions’ to ‘I don’t think he’s suited to the role I have in mind for him’.
“Nothing had changed in that space of time, though. Perisic’s public rejection yesterday was only the last chapter of a long day on Saturday, which started with Conte leaving him on the bench.”
Conte’s decision to play the 30-year-old as a second striker in his 3-5-2 system was described as ‘a point of no return’ for Perisic, who now risks going the same way as Mauro Icardi and Radja Nainggolan.
The midfielder was praised for his work rate but Conte seems to have given up on the experiment he was planning for preseason.
“Getting rid of Perisic as well would mean getting rid of all Inter’s chief troublemakers from last season,” Gazzetta continued.
Perisic asked to leave Inter in January when he had an offer from Arsenal and will hope to find more interest from the Premier League this summer.