Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has reportedly told Chief Executive Ed Woodward that he wants the club to sign Ivan Perisic before the start of the pre-season in July. The players will be having a short turnaround time as they come together in July for the start of the pre-season preparations. There are only two weeks to go before United fly out to the United States and according to Daily Mail, Jose Mourinho wants Perisic for the pre-season tour.

Ivan Perisic has been one of the top transfer targets for United in the 2017 summer transfer window, but Manchester United have been unable to make any progress in the transfer due to Inter’s high transfer fee demands.

The Italian outfit are demanding around £44million for the player who is 28 years of age. United are aware that he will have very little reason value at the end of a five-year contract, and we have been trying to negotiate a fee of around £35million for the player. Yet, there is no doubt about the player’s quality and he has been on the radar of Jose Mourinho for the last six months.

He managed to come up with a brilliant 11 goals and 11 assists in just 36 league games last season. Even though the Inter have recently undergone an ownership change with the arrival of riches from China, it is believed that the club are keen on selling the player due to 2 reasons – UEFA Financial Fair Play and revamp of the squad under the new management of Luciano Spalletti.

However, the former Roma manager has indicated in recent weeks that he would like to keep Ivan Perisic considering that he has been a quality asset to the club since his move from Wolfsburg in the summer of 2015.

United are believed to have even gone to the extent of offering the demanded £44million but only in the form of add-ons. However, Inter Milan are only keen on completing a full on transfer with no performance-related bonuses.

Jose Mourinho is a strong believer of completing the signings before the beginning of the pre-season tour. A good pre-season is essential in order to get the best out of new signings – especially in a completely different league. This strategy was a huge reason behind the Chelsea’s 2014-15 league title under the Portuguese manager. It looks like Ed Woodward has his work cut out in the next few weeks.