As far as free transfers go, Fabio Paratici is going to find it incredibly hard to better the signing of Ivan Perisic. A transfer tactic he used time and time again at Juventus as he brought in some huge names for absolutely nothing, the deal for the Croat is one that has really benefitted Tottenham.
Maybe a transfer that a few people raised eyebrows to given Perisic's age and Tottenham's usual policy of buying young players, not a single person can question the deal considering what the 33-year-old has brought to Spurs in his first 24 games for the club. Antonio Conte knew full well what Perisic would offer his team after managing him at Inter Milan, with the player paying his head coach back in assists since his summer switch from the San Siro.
Starting at left wing-back in Wednesday's 4-0 triumph over Crystal Palace, the ex-Borussia Dortmund man had a key say on the final outcome of the match after teeing up Harry Kane for the opener. The first goal of the contest was always going to be vital, especially with Tottenham conceding first in their previous ten games.
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An opener for Crystal Palace would have undoubtedly seen Tottenham heads drop and there's a very good chance their dire run of form would have continued had that been the case. Perhaps needing the half-time whistle with Palace upping the ante and putting pressure on Hugo Lloris' goal, the visitors made the crucial breakthrough three minutes after the restart.
Following some good play from Bryan Gil as he came inside and found some space to play in Perisic, the left-sided player stood the ball up to the back post for Kane to rise highest and nod home past Vicente Guaita. The delivery, as it has been time and time again this season, was inch-perfect from Tottenham's No.14 as he registered his eighth assist of the term.
Perisic is well on his way to surpassing his previous best of 11 assists in a season having contributed that figure for Inter Milan during 2017/18. With 20 Premier League games still to come as well as matches in the Champions League and FA Cup, the player is also on track to bettering Spurs' top assister from last season after Kane added ten assists in all competitions to his 27 goals.
One thing that has been noticeable about Perisic's numbers over the past five seasons is that he is incredibly consistent when it comes to both goals and assists. Hitting 11 goals and 11 assists in 2017/18, he followed it up with nine strikes and eight assists the following campaign and eight goals and ten assists in 2019/20.
Hitting five apiece in 2020/21, his final season at Inter Milan saw him contribute with 10 goals and nine assists in 49 games for the Nerazzurri. Whereas Perisic is well on his way for assists, he has yet to get off the mark in a Tottenham shirt.
The goals will come for the experienced player and it may be a case of once he gets his first then they will really start to flow. That would come as a welcome boost to Conte as his teams are at their very best when both wing-backs are heavily involved in the final third and registering the numbers week after week.
Wednesday evening saw Matt Doherty, who enjoyed a real purple patch with four goals in their three friendly games last month, score his first of the season as he calmly slotted in Tottenham's third of the evening. Hopefully it is the start of things to come for Tottenham's wing-backs.
Making such an impact in his first six months as a Spurs player with his quality on the ball seeing him rack up the assists, Perisic adding goals to his game would be a further boost to Conte and the team at such a crucial time in the season. The Croatia international has been a transfer victory for Paratici so far but there could be even more to come from him in the final third between now and May.
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