Ivan Perisic Player Profile

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July 23, 2012 by joshilan14

Croatian winger cum attacking midfielder Ivan Perisic had a steady first season in the Bundesliga with champions Borussia Dortmund. After impressing previously in Belgium, Perisic is hoping that the next season will bring him more starts, so he can show both Borussia Dortmund and the Bundesliga how good he is.

 

Club career

Perisic started his career at leading Croatian side Hajduk Split. At the age of seventeen, he was labelled as one for the future. This saw him linked to a number of clubs in Europe’s biggest leagues, with clubs such as Ajax, PSG and Hamburg. He eventually decided to join French side Sochaux in 2006: with this seeming like a sensible choice as it would allow him to develop, with a chance of first-team football. This was not to be the case though, with Perisic not making an appearance for the French club during his three-year spell.

 

In January 2009, the Croatian midfielder was loaned out to Roeselare, a club in the Belgian Pro League. After scoring eight goals in twenty games in league and cup; these performances alerted Belgian giants Club Brugge to fork out just under £200,000 to sign him.

 

His debut season saw him score thirteen and assist the same amount in 43 games in all competitions, with his performances delighting fans and critics alike. The 2010-2011 season saw Perisic score 22 goals and ten assists in 46 games in all competitions; this saw him win both the player of the year and top goal scorer of the Belgian Pro League.

 

His success at Club Brugge saw him inevitably linked to many clubs in Europe’s bigger leagues. It was Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund that won the race to sign the Croatian, with him signing for a fee of £4,000,000.

 

It was a Champions League match for Dortmund against Premiership side Arsenal that saw his reputation enhance in England; with him scoring a stunning volley from outside the box. With Dortmund having a wealth of talented midfielders, such as Kagawa, Gotze and Groskreutz, Perisic found starts hard to come by, but he was a regular from off the bench. He did make 38 appearances in all competitions, scoring nine and creating six, which can be seen as a reasonable record.

 

Perisic said of his hopes for the next season “The season will be long – we will have many games. I hope that I will play more frequently than I did last year. Last season had a bitter aftertaste, as I did not play quite as much as I would have liked.” This shows the signs of a player, not only with ambition, but one with a burning desire to be successful.

 

International career

His great record for Club Brugge saw Croatia manager Slaven Bilic alerted to his attention in January 2011, which resulted in Perisic being called up to the national team. Five months later, he made his international debut, with this coming in his country’s 2-0 win over Macedonia.

 

He featured sporadically during the Euro 2012 qualification process, with the majority of his appearances came off the substitute’s bench. However he appeared regularly enough in the friendlies before Euro 2012, with his performances in these enough to win a place in the Vatreni side.

 

Euro 2012 started with a bang for Perisic, with the 23 year old getting an assist in the opening game against Ireland. The next game against Italy saw Perisic struggle to make an impact on the game, which saw him subbed after 68 minutes. Slaven Bilic placed Perisic on the bench for their final group game against eventual winners Spain, with the Dortmund player coming on with twenty minutes to go.

 

The future

At just 23 years of age, Ivan Perisic has a bright future ahead of him. Perisic has said that he hopes to become a regular for Borussia Dortmund next season, and with the fantastic Shinji Kagawa leaving, this could result in Perisic getting more first-team opportunities. If is potential is fulfilled, Perisic might just become the next world-class player to come out of the Dortmund production line.

 

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