A week ago to the day, Corriere dello Sport started a rather interesting rumour, claiming that Manchester United were interested in Inter’s Joao Mario, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan potentially going the other way.
The name Juan Mata also came up, but, if the Serie A side were to have a choice, the option to sign the Armenian instead was more favourable.
Fast forward to today, and there’s been a small update, with José Mourinho opening the door for the former Borussia Dortmund forward’s exit via his reluctance to choose him in his team.
Referring to their own article from last week, the Italian newspaper also explain that it was the Portuguese manager who initiated the approach for Joao Mario, which is when the idea of a swap popped up.
If no player were to be involved in the deal, then Inter would like to see an offer of around €40-45m, which is what they paid for the 24-year-old in the first place.
Joao Mario, down his end, just wants to play, and, with a place in Portugal’s World Cup squad to play for, if that means moving to Old Trafford, then that’s what he’ll do.
However, a third option is also put forward, and that is a loan swap, meaning Mkhitaryan going to Inter temporarily and the Serie A midfielder heading to Manchester for six months in order for both sides to ‘try out’ the merchandise before committing to anything.
It’s not the worst idea in the world, and it would at least allow both players to get their seasons back on track.
We’ve got a feeling this could be one of the big rumours this January, and we’ll be keeping an eye out for any updates in the near future.
