Former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand has paid tribute to "outstanding" Ivan Perisic following the 2018 World Cup final on Sunday afternoon.

Perisic was on the scoresheet in Croatia's 2-1 win over England in the semi-finals of the competition last week, and also netted against France in his team's 4-2 defeat in the showpiece final.

The Inter Milan winger was strongly linked with a move to United last summer, but Red Devils Jose Mourinho ultimately failed to bring him to Old Trafford.

"In the semi-final especially and then today, Ivan Perisic was quite outstanding. The strike is pure as you like. He was fantastic. His drive, his determination and quality is why he was earmarked before the tournament as a threat," Ferdinand told BBC Sport.

Perisic entered this summer's tournament off the back of scoring 11 times and registering 11 assists in 39 appearances for Inter during the 2017-18 campaign.

Written by
Matt Law