Joao Mario joined Premier League outfit West Ham United on loan from Serie A giants Inter Milan in the January transfer window.
Joao Mario has not made the impact expected of him at West Ham United.
The Portuguese playmaker arrived at the London Stadium on loan in January from Inter Milan, a year-and-a-half after the Serie A giants paid £38 million to sign the Euro 2016 champion from Sporting Lisbon.
Mario struggled to make an impact at the San Siro, however, and is yet to impress in England either. He has assisted just one goal in five Premier League games and admitted to the club’s official website earlier this month that he was finding the adaptation to this fast and physical competition very difficult.
And if Gazzetta dello Sport (19th March, page 3) is to be believed, it is already unlikely that West Ham will take up the option to sign Mario permanently at the end of this season, in a fee Sky Sports believe to be around £26 million – which would make the 25-year-old their record signing.
Gazzetta even claim that parent club Inter are already trying to sell Mario elsewhere. Luciano Spalletti’s side have made Roma midfielder Kevin Strootman their top summer target and will offer Mario as part of the deal to avoid paying the Dutchman’s £30 million price-tag.
This, then, makes it quite clear that Inter do not expect West Ham to stump up the £26 million required to keep Mario at the London Stadium.
Then again, he has two more months to change their mind.
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