Barcelona manager Hansi Flick keen on shock veteran signing

Barcelona Director of Football Deco has admitted that if there is one area of the pitch that he believes they can strengthen, it is in the final third. However few imagined that might involve a move for one of Europe’s veteran forwards at the age of 36.

Yet that is the case for Ivan Perisic. Over the weekend it was revealed that manager Hansi Flick had suggested the veteran winger as a potential opportunity on the market. That report came from Germany, with the two having worked together at Bayern Munich successfully. Perisic spent this season at PSV Eindhoven, where he scored 16 goals and gave 11 assists in 35 appearances for the Dutch giants. He is out of contract this summer, and there is no certainty that he will sign a new one with PSV.

It has now been confirmed by MD that Flick is indeed interested in a move for Perisic, and that the Croatian international would be happy to move to Barcelona. He, like Real Madrid’s departing Real Madrid legend Luka Modric, is hoping to maintain his form ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

One of the key reasons that Flick believes such a left-field signing is his versatile nature. Although Perisic has operated on the left side of the pitch for much of his career, Flick is confident that he can occupy up to five positions; left wing, right wing, right-back, left-back and number nine.

Flick and Deco brought Wojciech Szczesny out of retirement this season to good effect, and Perisic would be a move in a similar vain. The Blaugrana have had a mixed record of bringing in veteran players as rotational options. The likes of Luuk de Jong and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang proved inspired choices, yet the signings of Kevin-Prince Boateng and Oriol Romeu failed to come off.