Ivan Perisic leaves Tottenham for Hajduk Split loan return | OneFootball

@Dan_KP

Tottenham's Ivan Perisic has sealed a romantic return to boyhood club Hajduk Split on loan until the end of the season.

Perisic, 34, has been sidelined since September following surgery on a complex ACL injury in his right knee suffered in training, and Ange Postecoglou, the Spurs head coach, said he will not play for the club again this season.

But Perisic is confident of returning to action in mid-April and being fit for Croatia at the European Championship in Germany this summer.

A return to Hajduk Split, where the winger came through the youth ranks before joining French club Sochaux as a teenager, gives Perisic a better chance of regular football in the month building up to the tournament.

Tottenham have sanctioned a loan deal which frees up wages and space in Postecoglou's squad this month.

Perisic is out of contract at Spurs in the summer and leaving on loan this month effectively ends his time in north London.

Signed as a specialist wing-back for Antonio Conte on a free transfer from Inter Milan in summer 2022, Perisic has made 50 appearances for Spurs in total, scoring once.

Asked by Standard Sport in early January if Perisic would play for Spurs again this season, Postecoglou said: "No, he's working hard to be fair to Ivan. He's obviously got some national team commitments he wants to get back to as soon as possible.

Ivan Perisic believes he can return to action following knee surgery in April

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"Again, he's been a significant loss for us. I thought this year he was going to be a really significant contributor because of his experience and we saw that in the first few games because of the way he impacted games.

"But yeah, he won't... he's unlikely to play for us again."