Mohamed Salah vs Ivan Perisic: Who Will Be A Better Signing Of The Two If Manchester United Manage To Land The Croatian?
Manchester United have made some stellar signings this summer and have added Belgian star Romelu Lukaku to their attack for the new season. But having spent on a striker, Mourinho is looking at a versatile creator who can add also goals to United’s lineup.
They have been chasing Marco Asensio from Real Madrid but Inter Milan’s Ivan Perisic is reportedly at the top of the wish list for the Red Devils. The Croatian winger is one of the most exciting players in Europe at the moment and Manchester United will hope that he can have a similar impact in England next season.
The fans of the club will want to prove that signing Perisic is a decent acquisition but how does he compare to one Mohamed Salah, the £39million man who Liverpool have added to their squad? Here is a statistical comparison of the two players, with the numbers taken from their previous season for their respective clubs in Italy.
The Game Of Numbers
Both players played similar number of games but Salah was more productive in front of goal, picking up 15 goals and 11 assists, with a pass accuracy of 80% and a shot accuracy of 53% to his name. Perisic is behind Salah in all those numbers, picking up 11 goals and 8 assists, with a pass accuracy of just 71% and a shot accuracy at just 49%.
With a successful take-on rate of 54.55%, the Egyptian winger created 71 chances, averaging 2.18 key passes per game. Perisic has just 1.73 key passes per game to his name, and he created just 61 chances, with a successful take-on rate of 51.25%.
Neither player is too strong in the air but Perisic leaves Salah to shame winning 50.93% of his aerial duels, compared to a meagre 25.81% by the Liverpool man. However, Salah, who suffers 0.95 fouls per game, won 45.77% of his total duels, which is more than the 45.26% by Perisic, who draws just 0.49 fouls per game.
However, Perisic is a hard worker and will help in the defensive end of the game as well, as is clear with his 1.15 interceptions per game. Salah averaged just 0.40 interceptions per game.
Both players were the first choice for their respective Serie A clubs so it is easy to see who has been better at what part of their game.
Mohamed Salah is the clear winner and Liverpool seem to have got themselves a gem of a player. Nevertheless, this is football and anything can happen. But expect a fierce competition between the two players next season (if United sign Perisic that is).
Verdict: Liverpool win hands down
Stat Credit: Squawka.com