Bundesliga
Former Bayern Munich striker Ivica Olic says the record Bundesliga champions have completed a shrewd bit of business by snapping up his fellow Croatian Ivan Perisic from Inter Milan.
Bayern officially confirmed the arrival of the 30-year-old winger on loan on Tuesday, making him their fourth summer signing after Lucas Hernandez, Benjamin Pavard and Fiete Arp. Olic, who played alongside Perisic for two seasons at Wolfsburg and still works with him as part of the Croatia national team setup, expects him to be an invaluable addition to Niko Kovac's squad.
"Ivan is a top signing," Olic told Sport Bild. "I've known him as a teammate, and now I see him regularly in my role as assistant coach of the national team. He's a consummate professional who always gives his all. Ivan's been playing at the highest international level for years, boasting enormous quality and plenty of experience. He's also super fit."
Watch: Perisic's Top 5 Bundesliga goals!
A striker who could also play on the wing, Olic spent the final decade of his career in Germany, scoring 23 goals in 80 appearances for Bayern between 2009 and 2012. He believes Perisic will help to plug the gap left by the departures of two players who arrived in Bavaria at around the same time he did: club legends Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben.
"He's had problems at Inter, because as a winger he doesn't fit into the system of their new coach Antonio Conte," the 39-year-old explained. "But Bayern need more top new players out wide after parting ways with Ribery and Robben. And a player of Ivan's technical ability and experience will be able to help out immediately."
This will be a third stint in Germany for Perisic, who did a Bundesliga and DFB Cup double with Borussia Dortmund in 2011/12, and won the DFB Cup again with Wolfsburg in 2015. Bayern will be hopeful that the 2018 FIFA World Cup runner-up can keep his run of silverware going at the Allianz Arena.