Ivan Perisic appears to have no intention of stopping his career due to injury.
Tottenham Hotspur announced on the club website on the 20th (Korean time), “Perisic suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in his right knee. He suffered the injury during non-contact training. Accordingly, he will undergo surgery. Perisic “Chi will begin rehabilitation with the medical team and it is determined that he will not be able to play for the remainder of the season,” the official statement said.
After the news of Perisic’s injury came out, British public broadcasters ‘BBC’ and ‘The Athletic’ predicted that Perisic would be out for the season, as announced by the club, saying, “Perisic is expected to miss the rest of the season due to an ACL injury.” Rumors began to circulate that he might retire beyond the prospect of missing the season.
It’s because of Perisic’s age. Born in 1989, Perisic is now at a point where he can start thinking about retirement. Although his skills have not yet rusted enough to warrant retirement, his cruciate ligament injury is serious enough to threaten his life as a player.
Even when returning, there are many cases where the skills are not as good as before. It is true that it is uncertain whether Perisic will be able to recover properly as he is still young as a player.
It is doubtful whether we will be able to see him again at Tottenham any time soon. Perisic signed a two-year contract when he moved to Tottenham through the transfer window last summer. We will have to say goodbye to Tottenham at the end of the 2023-24 season.
It is highly unlikely that Tottenham will offer a contract renewal to Perisic, who is a highly paid player, is older, and has suffered a serious injury. He is not a player with a significant role in the team like Son Heung-min. Even before the injury, he had already lost ground to Destiny Udozi and Ben Davis in the left fullback position, and to Son Heung-min and Manor Solomon in the left winger position.
Perisic has himself put an end to rumors that he could retire, apart from his future at Tottenham. On the 21st, he shared a quote from basketball emperor Michael Jordan through his personal SNS. “You don’t necessarily have to stop just because you encounter an obstacle. If you run and encounter a wall, don’t turn around, don’t give up. Find out how you can get over the wall, get through the wall, or turn around.”
It was his will to overcome his injury and come back to continue his career as a player. Perisic directly expressed his will to return as a player, saying, “I’m really grateful for the support of the fans. It means everything to me. See you again soon.”
Tottenham colleagues also expressed consolation over the news of Perisic’s injury. Pedro Foro consoled his colleague, saying, “I hope you recover well. We will fight for you.” Vice-captain James Madison also expressed his condolences to his teammate, saying, “I am heartbroken. You are truly the best player. I hope you recover quickly and I send you my love.”메이저사이트
Perisic played for Dortmund and Wolfsburg before wearing the Inter Milan uniform in 2015. And he has played 254 games through the 2021-22 season, scoring 55 goals and 49 assists. Along the way, he even went on loan to Bayern Munich.
Perisic, who showed consistency by leading Inter Milan back to the Italian Serie A championship, was called by coach Antonio Conte and decided to go to Tottenham ahead of the 2022-23 season. Coach Conte considered Perisic to be the right candidate for the wingback position and actively hired him.
If you look at Perisic’s performance itself, it was not a bad first season. He played 44 official games during the 2022-23 season, scoring 1 goal and providing 12 assists. However, Coach Conte’s tactic of subduing Son Heung-min instead of using Perisic aggressively was the target of criticism and ultimately failed. Tottenham’s defense last season was also a problem throughout the season.
After Conte left, Perisic was considered a transfer candidate, but decided to continue his career with manager Enze Postecoglou. Still, there was talk that he might leave in the January transfer market as he was completely pushed out of his starting position, but everything went wrong due to a serious injury.
The pros and cons were clear. Perisic was good at attacking, but was worst at defending. As a result, Tottenham suffered from defensive instability and ranked 6th in the Premier League (PL) with the most goals conceded with 63. He was often pointed out as the culprit of conceding goals along with center backs Eric Dier and Da Vinson Sanchez.