Perisic was inches away from moving to Old Trafford when Jose Mourinho was in charge of the Red Devils but the deal ultimately collapsed and the Croat stayed put at Inter Milan for two more seasons before moving to Bavaria on a season-long loan this summer.
The 30-year-old, who scored in the FIFA World Cup final as Croatia lost 4-2 to France last year, will be in England on Tuesday as he is expected to play some part when Bayern Munich face Tottenham Hotspurs in the UEFA Champions League.
Ahead of the game, the former Borussia Dortmund winger looked back on a potential permanent stay in England that got away.
“How close was I going there? Very close,” he told The Athletic.
“It was an amazing thing for me when Jose called me. It was difficult to say no to him. In fact, I really, really wanted to join him and play for United.
"It was a dream of mine to play in all the big leagues. But it didn’t happen. It was painful for me. But I don’t want to go into the details. I only found out myself the real reasons two years later.”
Perisic has impressed in his short stay at Bayern Munich so far, scoring two goals and providing one assist in three Bundesliga games.
