By Richard Hall (@Gentleman_Ultra)

At Inter’s training ground in Appiano Gentile in September a shy and rather skinny Ivan Perisic revealed what it was like to arrive in Milan and how he was adapting. Sat on the substitutes bench on the practice pitch, he muttered and mumbled, casting the image of a nervous youngster perhaps overwhelmed by his lofty surroundings. Throughout the season however, his stature, physique and confidence grew, concluding at Euro 2016 where he put on a master class and showed he was now integral to his national team as well as his club.

If he resembled a boy in Como that day, he certainly was a man in France. Now physically imposing, he was playing brilliantly. In the last game he sported (as part of his haircut) the Croatian flag, in what was a questionable yet confident move.  Going from strength to strength he has sparkled in the country’s qualification group and he had become an integral attacking option down the left. During the tournament he took this one step further as he now made himself the ‘go to man’ in a Croatian team with a plethora of stars. He was blistering against the Turks who could not contain him and likewise against the Czech Republic, they also felt his wrath as he purposely tormented his markers. His performance against Spain certainly turned heads as he created the equalising goal for Nikola Kalinic, before hammering the winner past David De Gea on his near post to win the game.

It wasn’t always like this. In the early part of last season, as the Nerazzurri trudged to five straight victories, he was used intermittently as Roberto Mancini struggled to find his best team. Despite his slender physique, he did show that he was tough but in a team that was built (in those early days) on defensive solidity, he struggled to exhibit any of his natural flare.  One day after the interview, Inter were taken apart 1-4 in San Siro as Kalinic his compatriot scored a hat-trick and at this point many would have thought he may disappear it his shell and fall off the radar.

Instead the Croatian, hurt by the defeat managed to net his first goal for the Nerazzurri in the next game against Sampdoria and was man of the match in the process. What he showed in this game was to become the basis for his season. Rather than trying desperately to attack on his own he instead worked hard for the collective and bought into Mancini’s philosophy. He tracked back and covered well, his defensive duties were his most notable asset and his goal was simply rich reward for his tireless overlapping. This was the awakening of Perisic and he didn’t look back.

Arguably the 27-year-old was the player of the season for the Nerazzurri as, whilst he netted seven times and created six assists in 26 Serie A starts, this was only half of the story.  He was defensively superb throughout the season and was constantly tracking back and working for the team. This responsibility for the collective group was paramount in his game. He provided this ethic every time he played and only when he knew that he had these duties in place, would he start to venture out. As he became tactically used to the league, his paramount aim became second nature and he found himself with more time to focus on the creative side of his game.

His calmness on the ball became noticeable and he would find space with much more regularity showing that his in game intelligence was growing and once this was in place the easy part came. Technically he is one of the best at the club and by the end of the season he was terrorising defences and making Inter’s left hand side one of the most feared in Serie A.

Fast forward to Euro 16 and this confidence hit a new level. By the time Croatia played Spain he had found a way to mix his workman like ethic with his calmness under pressure and unbelievably still found time to express himself. What Inter and Mancini will be marvelling about is that this is not just an industrious winger and he is also no show pony. What they now have on their midst is a tactically intelligent athlete with devastating technique, who now knows when to use his ability and when not to.

After the win against Spain, Perisic praised his team but also said that, “There were some minor mistakes tonight and that is something we need to fix for the next match. We hope to be successful in fixing these.” It is this attention to detail and this constant evaluation that could make him key to the success at Inter next year. The young man sat in the sun at Appiano Gentile last September was asked “What do you want to achieve at Inter?” he replied “All I want is to matter for this club”, he has already achieved his dream.