Although the change from Ivan Perisic to FC Bayern Munich is not yet fixed, coach Niko Kovac has sharply criticised the debate that has flared up over the imminent transfer.
“It doesn’t matter whether he comes or doesn’t come: You’re badmouthing a player here and that’s not the right thing to do,” Kovac said in an interview with ARD before the first round match in the DFB Bayern Cup at Energie Cottbus.
The German record holder’s interest in Perisic had become public after Leroy Sane, who had suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in the English Supercup against Liverpool FC and is therefore unlikely to change to the German record holder, suffered a serious knee injury.
Kovac confirmed that the Croatian international had been in Munich on Monday. The newspaper Bild-Zeitung had previously reported that Perisic had completed the medical check in Munich.
However, Kovac did not want to know anything about an emergency solution in the case of the Perisic transfer. “Every player deserves the respect and you can’t talk about a B, C, or X solution. We must all ask ourselves whether what has been going on recently is right,” explained the 47-year-old, who had already worked with Perisic on the Croatian national team from 2013 to 2015.
In this context, Kovac particularly criticized the focus on the advanced age of the 30-year-old wing player, which, according to critical voices, did not fit in with the rejuvenation program of the squad. “Stefan Effenberg joined FC Bayern when he was 30 and won the Champions League,” explained Kovac: “We have to get away from just looking at age, but also seeing what the boys have achieved and what they can do and whether they can help.
One should not “always hit it and not suddenly make everything bad”, but must “wait and see and then we will see what the future brings”, said Kovac.
In addition to Perisic, whose loan is said to cost five million euros and a purchase option of 20 million euros, further transfers on Säbener Strasse are to be made perfect in the coming weeks. Kovac had already made it clear on Saturday that “something will definitely happen” by the time the transfer closes on September 2. Most recently, FC Bayern were associated with Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele of FC Barcelona.
