Remember when Inter nearly lost Perisic to Everton?
With both the sporting director and manager Roberto Mancini big fans of the Croatian star, Inter were determined to get their man, despite the Bundesliga club's repeated stonewalling of the deal, which ultimately dragged on for three months.
Perisic has recently starred for the Nerazzurri, directly contributing to 5 of the team's last 9 goals, including a stunning finish on Sunday to momentarily put them 1-0 up against Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.
Initially ineffectual, the 27-year-old Croatian looked like just another bidone, another transfer flop for a club that has a Terracotta Army's worth of skeletons in its closet.
Recently, however, he has turned things around, playing an instrumental role in the Beneamata's ultimately doomed Coppa Italia comeback against Juventus (they lost on penalties).
Correspondent Fabrizio Romano reminds us, however, that the Nerazzurri came extremely close to losing him completely during the negotiations, when Premier League club Everton made an offer that Wolfsburg really liked (and the salary was high, too) for Perisic's services.
Though it may have swung the former BuLi contenders, it didn't convince Perisic, who really wanted to play for Inter.
Now, Inter looked to have added a pezzo da novanta (a big-hitting player) to their attack... and Perisic is considered to be indispensable, with only a ridiculous, €35 million-for-Mateo-Kovacic kind of offer likely to elicit a reaction.
