Ivan Perisic opens up on failed Manchester United move

Ivan Perisic has revealed that he was desperate to join Manchester United when Jose Mourinho was in charge of the English giants.

The 30-year-old was strongly linked with United in the summer of 2017 and has said that he spoke with Mourinho over a switch to Old Trafford.

A move never came to fruition, though, and the Croatian is now with Bayern Munich, having joined the German giants on loan from Inter Milan before the European transfer window closed earlier this month.

Perisic has admitted that it was "painful" to miss out on a switch to United, and the attacker has said that he has only just found out why the deal broke down.

"How close was I going there? Very close," Perisic told The Athletic. "It was an amazing thing for me when Jose called me. It was difficult to say no to him. In fact, I really, really wanted to join him and play for United.

"It was a dream of mine to play in all the big leagues. But it didn't happen. It was painful for me. But I don't want to go into the details. I only found out myself the real reasons two years later."

Bayern will travel to Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League on Tuesday night, although Perisic is a doubt for the European tie after missing out against Paderborn at the weekend through illness.